[TowerTalk] connectors

[L. B. Cebik]

>Am interested to know from the guys that don't like the silver ones, what 
>brand they have problems with and what kind of problems.

Having purchased a large number and variety of coax connectors over the
years, I suspect that either a. not all silver/teflon connectors are made
alike or b. not everything that looks like silver/teflon really is.

In some connectors, the pin may not make full contact with the
corresponding receptacle.  In some cases, this appears to be a
construction flaw.  In other cases, it can result from pin movement during
soldering--either in the male or female connector.  The pin movement may
result from normal heat, from excess heat (getting that solder to go
exactly where we want it to go), or from the way we clamp and hold the
connector while soldering.  If the pin moves (back and forth or
side-to-side) at all during soldering, discard the connector, whatever the
cause.  Alignment is no longer assured.

Likewise, to be gratuitous but complete, during routine maintenance, check
connectors and replace any that are suspect.  Terrible thing to have a
multi-kilobuck installation thwarted by the failure of a <$2 connector.

While I have no strict preference for one type of connector over the
other, since both have served me well at HF, I would suggest that once you
find a very reliable connector source/maker, stick with that source, with
a reserve supply to handle any situation.  Make changes slowly, proving
out the new type/maker/supplier on non-critical jobs before changing over
permenently.

-73-

LB, W4RNL



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