[TowerTalk] PL-259, Teflon or not?

[Al, N6TA]

At higher frequencies, Teflon is less lossy than just about all other viable
insulators for connectors.  Air being the least lossy but hard to hold a
center contact without something more solid.  Use at HF may be for other
reasons or simply marketing hype.  Also, note that there are a lot of
different types of Teflons.  From the really soft W.L. Gore products to a
pretty hard extruded material.  Still, no reason to avoid it unless it cost
too much for you!
Al

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Tom Rauch
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2004 11:04
To: Jack Berry; 'Dino Darling'; towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] PL-259, good ones vs. bad ones



Is the Teflon necessary at HF? I know it gets damage from
misplaced heat
pretty easily. Phenolic is rugged and seems to last a long
time. Are there
good reasons to go with Teflon over phenolic?>>

Jack,

We normally dip teflon wires directly in a solder pot to tin
them without ill effect. In my experience Teflon holds up
much better than phenolic materials with heat. The only
problem I see with Teflon is it can be pushed out of the
barrel easier.

The worse connectors are some weird plastics that appear on
offbeat connectors that Radio Shack and others use. That
stuff is just junk.

Almost any Teflon connector will be very good performance
wise. The only common potential difficulty is in the
threading and fit to the female. Even Delrin connectors work
pretty well. Just a few of the plastics are really poor.


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