[Towertalk] There are no dumb questions on Tower Talk, only dumb answerrs!

[Tom Rauch]

> ...........somebody ages ago pointed out that on one install they had
> improved (decreased) their feedline loss by using some better hard
> line for part of the run - as it turned out the adding of two barrel
> connectors (4 connections) probably offset all of his gains!

Contrary to folklore and wive's tales that claim silly things like
"0.5dB per splice" or other such nonsense, connectors can be 
considered lossless at HF. 

Another bit of folklore is that an S-unit is 6dB. Most S meters are 
around 3-5dB per S-unit near the top of the scale, but down low on 
the scale an S-unit can be as little as 1dB! 

S-meters aside, 1 dB can be a remarkable difference in copy when a 
signal is near noise or QRM level.

 This meant the problem was after the next splice point which would
> have been at the top of the tower about 135 feet up.....

The biggest problem is not installing the connectors correctly, over-
tightening or under-tightening them, and waterproofing them 
incorrectly. UHF connectors are very forgiving of installation 
errors, such as over-tightening or placed under stress.

Splices aren't a problem if they are made correctly and waterproofed 
properly. As a matter of fact, I've never had a splice fail or cause 
problems and there are sometimes five or six of them in a run to an 
antenna. 

I don't worry at all about splices or connectors, and I use them at 
any point where I might need access to the cable. I never give it a 
second thought at all. If they are lossy at all, 1500 watts will melt 
em right down so any problems with cheap connectors show up right 
away.73, Tom W8JI
W8JI@contesting.com