[TowerTalk] split locks vs star washers

Pete Smith n4zr@contesting.com
Tue, 26 Sep 2000 11:00:52 -0400


Does anyone have any info on the relative merits of these two types of lock
washers for electrical (specifically RF) connections.

I just pulled apart my 80m array switchbox.  For years it had suffered from
increasingly severe problems with received signal level on some of the
antennas, and just recently two of the dipoles went dead completely on
transmit or receive.

This is one of those arrays that requires switching both the center
conductors and the shields of each feedline.  When I got into the box, I
discovered that all of the shield connections (by solder lug under one
mounting bolt of each SO-239) were loose by a turn or more.  After
tightening them up, and resoldering one center conductor that was totally
disconnected, all the problems seem to be gone.

For the shield connections, I used split lockwashers under each nut.  I
just tried replacing one of them with a star washer, and my impression is
that it "grabbed" much more positively.  Is this generally the case, and
are star washers preferred for conductive connections?

73, Pete Smith N4ZR

Contesting is ... Extreme Radio

The World Contest Station Database 
is back up and running at
http://www.qsl.net/n4zr 



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