[BULK] - RE: [TowerTalk] Re: Cutting braid - Installing PL259

[Steve Katz]

Kind of an odd specification number, but, since that connector probably
antedates World War II and all the modern style of specification (I'd expect
a MIL-C-xxx type spec for a connector), it could well be.

::It's really PL-259/SO-239.  A type N is really UG21X/U (e.g., UG21B/U,
UG21C/U, UG21D/U) etc.  A BNC is really UG88X/U (e.g., UG88C/U) etc.  The
PL-259 reducing adapters really are UG175/U, UG176/U, etc.  The
double-female adapter for UHF connectors really is PL-258.  The applicable
mil slash sheets can all be found by the P/N, just as they can for tubes,
transistors, diodes and everything else.  The one that cracked me up was
when, in researching mil specs, I came across the spec for the government
issue brown paper lunch bag.  (It does have a spec, and a P/N.)  Made me
wonder if they have a mil spec for the G.I. grilled cheese sandwich (rubber
on a raft...maybe MIL-S-ROR/1)...


Does the military even use PL-259/SO-239 type connectors any more?  Most of
the specs I've seen recently call out TNC, BNC, N, and SMA  for low power RF
(less than 20 GHz and less than a few watts) and "coaxial or waveguide,
subject to approval" for high power.

::Don't know if there's any current application for PL-259s other than
replacement parts nowadays.  Might be interesting to find out, but not all
that interesting.  Of all those types you listed, the PL-259 can handle more
power (than any of those), so maybe there's still some use for it.  I'm
looking for the mil-spec waveguide-to-binding post adapter so I can use
ladder line at 24 GHz :)  (WB2WIK/6)