Topband: Failed bulkhead connector

Charles Otnott wd5bjt at peoplepc.com
Sun Jan 27 22:16:10 EST 2019


A speculation...cheap CHI-COMM product perhaps?

I had a recent failure of a no-name brand of
SO-239 bulkhead connector on a matching network
for my 160M 0.5 wave Hertz antenna. A black
scorch mark was very visible from the center pin
across the insulation and to the mount. The
connector was located inside of an environmentally
controlled box. At no time did the swr at 1Kw exceed 1.5:1.
If you can find true Amphenol silver plated antenna
connectors, pay the price. I have never had one fail.
The tarnish on the silver plate connectors is conductive,
so no need to remove the patina.

73
Charlie
WD5BHT




-----Original Message-----
>From: WW3S <ww3s at zoominternet.net>
>Sent: Jan 27, 2019 3:56 PM
>To: topband at contesting.com
>Subject: Topband: Failed bulkhead connector
>
>Had a great start to the 160 contest, about 90 qsos the first hour, running about 1200 w to my inverted L.....took a short break to grab a bite to eat, first transmission after that tripped the swr protection in the amp....long story short, after attempting to fix it in the dark, Saturday morning I found the bulkhead connector on my radial plate failed....even though reception was just fine, I couldn’t transmit, I think it failed open...replacing the connector brought everything back to normal.....it may have been a cheap connector , bought a few at Dayton ( won’t make that mistake again).....what is it that causes them to fail? The insulation ? 
>
>Sent from my iPad
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