[TenTec] Coax Connectors

[Marinus Loewensteijn]

Ken

thanks for the feedback. I have got locally a dealer in obscure electronic goods who has several thousands of N connectors from "cheap" nickel plated through to silver and stainless.

He also has assemblies with RG316D, RG142 which look pretty nice and can handle all the power I may ever throw at it.

One thing I have learned is that the "UHF" / PL259 connectors are not weather proof and in my hands I seem to get bad connections sooner or later with them.

I am also looking at some of this guys TNC range, not a big selection but good enough to get by with.

Wonder what you think of the TNC, seem to be used a lot in the labs, together with BNC and N.

PS - at the moment I am only running HF, little interest in anything higher but then a lot has changed in the last 20 years and who knows what we are doing in 20 years time?

I am running around 75 Watts but I like to configure that I am able to handle up to approx 300 - 375 Watts (max 30 Mhz).

Many thanks in advance

Marinus, ZL2ML





Hi Marinus,

The male "UHF" connector is a PL-259 and the female is SO-239. At MF and
HF they are fine if they are quality versions and are installed
correctly and kept clean and dry. You see a lot of terminations (dummy
loads) with "N" connectors, because many of them are rated for much
higher frequencies than SO-235/PL-259 are very good for. They are
typically used as the load for reverse power on a circulator between a
transmitter and a filter cavity in a UHF or VHF transmitting system.
Professionals stay away from PL-259/SO-239 connectors. Good connectors
(BNC, N and others) are usually three or four times more expensive than
"UHF" connectors. If you are staying with smaller cable such as RG-58
and RG-59, BNC is a good choice. If you stay to power levels that can be
handled by RG-58, then BNC connectors will also handle it.

DE N6KB


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