[TowerTalk] Connector insertion loss

[Press W Jones]

Del, My staff and I have been running coax through our hands to the tune
of a number of million feet over the last 21 years, and are very
sensitive to irregularities, since we sell to critical
customers(including amateurs!) in a wide variety of lengths and sizes. We
come across snags in the braid, open spots, absence of braid or foils,
blobs of jacket materials and, yes, splices in the braid, wherein clean
coming and going cut-offs are simply overlaid where a major braider
breakdown occurs. A complete splice of both inner and outer cable to make
a marketable, usable splice? Never, aside from an example as mentioned
earlier wherein two major lengths were spliced.  
In all of the above cases, we cut out the defect and save for QC review
with the mfr, and if at all frequent, the lot is rejected. Many of our
incoming coax shipments are in 2 to 10 thousand foot continuous lengths,
which allows us to sell custom or standard short lengths without the
inherent  waste in custom cutting up of 1000 foot reels. Lot after lot of
these gross lengths are run out completely defect free, and, when defects
are found, most are cosmetic.
The type of thing you describe simply does not occur in quality goods -
however, many mills sell their scrap to reclaimers, surplus dealers, etc
who weed out what looks saleable to them before cooking it down to
recover copper. Enterprising flea marketers buy it up by the ton and sell
to contractors, independents, discounters, etc., who sell in every venue.
Major mfrs also have contractors who take every bit of scrap and resell
it after sorting - some of them even know the difference between coax and
romex. I've been offered  deals by the hundreds for coax that I could
easily sort and find some good among the bad at a tremendous profit. It
doesn't fit with earning a good reputation.
If you and your friend find what you describe in the coax you buy, you
are simply dealing with the wrong vendor.
::Press Jones, N8UG
::The Wireman, Inc.
::Landrum, SC 29356
::use n8ug@juno.com or (864) 895-4195 for tech help
::orders only use 800-727-WIRE(9473) or cqwire@juno.com

On Tue, 02 Sep 1997 06:01:22 -0700 Del Seay <seay@alaska.net> writes:
>Press W Jones wrote:
>
>Next time you get a long run of coax, carefully run your hand along 
>the
>full length. You'll feel a slight bulge in the outer insulator.
>All reels of cable have splices, and not just the cheap stuff.
>I didn't believe it either, until a co-worker pointed it out to me.
>Since then, I've paid special attention when running long runs.
>de KL7HF
>
>
>> 1. Complete lack of need in any well run plant, unless by special 
>order
>> (transoceanic cables, etc)
>>  2. Not cost effective
>> 3. Easily detectable, (and rejectable)
>> 
>> Press  N8UG
>

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search