[TowerTalk] Most Connectors sold to Hams are JUNK

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 19 May 2008 08:57:02 -0400, David Calder wrote:

>I used a cheap adapter with
>the "ring" in it and it just came apart when I tightened it.

Same here. I chased several intermittent connections in VHF and UHF 
antennas to those junk adapters. Some fall apart, some heat up when 
you put power to them, others simply open up but don't come apart. I 
also had a UHF Tee connector come apart. it was part of a stacking 
harness that I bought from PAR. They quickly replaced it. 

I have learned the hard way that nearly all of the connectors sold 
by vendors at hamfests are JUNK. 

The same is true of the imitation DIN connectors sold by most ham 
specialty vendors like RF Connection, which melt when you try to 
solder to them and use a metal that doesn't take solder. Good ones 
made by Switchcraft are still available from Newark and Allied, but 
they cost $5-$7, not $1. But they work!