[TowerTalk] N - clamp style connector

[Steve Katz]

K8RI: I'm pretty sure those are the ones that turn a rough, dusty,
bluish 
green around here. Nickel plate is terrible and silver just disappears.

That's the main reason I never worry about turning connectors into 
permanent attachments and use the flooded heat shrink.  IT also keeps 
them nice and clean. 

WB2WIK: You know, it's not what the outside of the connector looks like
that's important.  It's what happens inside.  Using silver-plated,
mil-spec UG-21D/U type N connectors, I've used them outdoors, completely
unprotected, for years and years and years even at the seaside when I
lived on the ocean in central NJ.  The outsides turn very "black" in
color, but the silver doesn't disappear -- it just develops an oxide
coat, which actually protects the connector as soon as it happens.

After several years of direct exposure I've unscrewed these fittings and
found everything underneath to be shiny and dry.  I've absolutely never
seen one take in a drop of water (unprotected) if it's the right
connector, installed on the right cable, so they are compatible.