[TowerTalk] Real waterproof connectors for rotators (was: source of 6/8 pin connectors?)

[AA6DX - Mark]

Awwwww come on .. those connectors are cheaper than the ubiquitous 4 pin 
trailer pigtails ??.. and available "anywhere" ?.. methinks not.   Good 
Grief Reef probably even has them good ol'  4 pins in their bins, in their 
marine outfitting store!  Of course, to be PC .. we have to have the 
"proper" fittings, n'est-ce pas?   And .. the ARRL (me be lifer) chose other 
ways to go for DC connectors for the AREC, etc....   wrongo, in my 
guestimation.   The 4 wire pigtails are THE way to go .. and, if you keep 
the leads short when you parallel them, they work swell with a 100 watt HF 
rig .. or VHF .. or ...
I have made a few journeys in my life to other lands .. not so easy to find 
German or American connectors, etc...  on Christmas Island (the one where 
you go to Hawaii from the USofA and turn left) we used Budweiser six-pak 
plastic holders, all bunched up to make an insulator for loops and dipoles 
.. worky worky .. but there were sure NO Deutschipd connectors there, but 
plenty of trailer type hook-me-ups!
HEY .. y'all have a good Turkey Day ..
Totally way off topic ... we (Ted, AL7RF / T32AL , and I .. AA6DX / T32AM) 
had a perfectly scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner at the Captain Cook ?hotel? 
.. `twas fried tuna .. hmmmmm .. remember, Turkey Day is a US holiday!  We 
were there for CQWWDX CW - HIHI-- 

Mark Nelson  -  AA6DX

mailto: AA6DX at ARRL.NET

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Lux" <jimlux at earthlink.net>
To: "Richard (Rick) Karlquist" <richard at karlquist.com>; "Jim McDonald" 
<jim at n7us.net>; <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 10:45 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Real waterproof connectors for rotators (was: 
source of 6/8 pin connectors?)


At 09:20 PM 11/21/2006, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote:
>A much better solution than either CJ or trailer
>connector pigtails is at this URL:
>
>http://www.deutschipd.com/Products/DT_Series/dt_series.html
>
>Real waterproof connectors that mount right on the end
>of the rotor cable w/o splices.  AND THEY'RE CHEAPER
>than trailer connector pigtails.  Now you have absolutely
>NO reason to use trailer connectors.


The trailer pigtails are pretty inexpensive ($1.99 for a male/female
set with 8" wires from JC Whitney, for instance)..

I do admit those Deutsch connectors look very nice, especially how
the sealing works. And, I suspect they make chassis mount versions,
which would be quite handy.


But, isn't someone supposed to pipe up with a curmudgeonly comment
along the lines of:

You should use only Western Union style splices, soldered with a
copper heated on a wood fire, just like they did for the
transcontinental railroad, insulated with bitumen and gutta
percha.  This newfangled stuff with polymers and thermoplastics, 
etc.etc.etc.

And why would you want a rotator anyway.  Just put up a few more
rhombics and add a few positions to your antenna switch. Or, if you
must, rotate the tower using a rope and pulley arrangement.

Jim,W6RMK


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