[TowerTalk] Amphenol website

[Chuck Smallhouse]

Hi Guys/Gals,

Be careful of the so called "solderless" connectors, and those 
purchased from off shore.

I have a good friend who was extolling the virtues (& price) of these 
and had installed them on his phasing lines and HB power divider 
(chassis mt type Ns), for his 2M array.  He took this into the field 
to make some MS contacts, from rare grids.

After installing the system (this was not his first field trip with 
it) he experienced a high VSWR, and after much trouble shooting and 
advice from his accompanying buddies, they discovered that the center 
pins, in not only the coax cable  connectors were not secured in 
place, but even the chassis mount connector center pins were loose 
and movable.  IOW the male (& female) center pins tended to pull way 
from the main connector.

I have seen this happen before, when due to temperature changes, the 
center conductor of some RG-8 size coax types, try to expand/contract 
and pull away non captivated center pins.  Therefore only utilize 
those connectors that have their center pins fully captivated.   I 
also advise to solder them, even when using a crimping tool for the 
shield connections.

GL es 73,

Chuck,  W7CS