[TowerTalk] N connector, Re: UHF (PL259) soldered center with braid crimp or, crimp-crimp, supply?

Avery Davis wb4rtp at mindspring.com
Tue Jun 26 01:35:21 EDT 2018


Charlie,
Would you please share a link to a source that discusses the limits of N
connectors?  Everything I have seen so far suggests they have as good or
better power handling at low frequencies than the PL-259, and are much
better at UHF as they are constant impedance (lower loss, higher power,
lower SWR).  For example, Amphenol rates their SO-239 at 500 V, while
their Type N is rated at 1500 Volts.  That sounds like better power
handling, to me.  The current rating wasn't listed, but I would think
that they would be about the same as the wire gauge in the coax cable
center conductor, since both connectors have center contact outer
diameter about the same as RG-8 or RG-213 coax, especially if skin-depth
effects are taken into account. 
I would appreciate a link to a better source of information on this.
73,
Avery, WB4RTP

On 6/24/2018 1:02 PM, Charlie at thegallos.com wrote:
> Still wonder why we insist on using PL259, outdoors. DIN connectors, or even (assuming you don’t push the limits/swr ) N connectors, I’ll say my 80m antenna is limited by the traps to 500w, (old TV Evans 17/80) and the N connectors (m and f) I used to replace the 2 pl259s and the barrel where I go from Buryflex to RG8x (for the hanging part of the coax) has held up well
> 73 de KG2V
>
>> On Jun 24, 2018, at 3:52 PM, Avery Davis <wb4rtp at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>> I have been very happy with the quality and prices from this vendor:
>>
>> http://www.pl-259.com/index.html
>>
>> I get this type:
>> PL-259 silver plated, Teflon insulator, gold plated tip
>> I try very hard not to get solder on the outside of the tip, filing off
>> any excess, and I use a flux remover spray to clean the connector. 
>>
>> For outdoor use, I prefer type-N because it has a gasket.  I like the
>> compression type because I find soldering the braid to be such a chore
>> and the compression fitting eliminates this soldering.  This works best
>> with silver plated connectors and coax braid because this minimizes
>> connection resistance and minimizes skin effect losses at higher
>> frequencies.  At higher frequencies, tinned conductors can have
>> increasing resistive losses due to skin effect, but bare copper is more
>> likely to corrode, while silver plated copper is more expensive.  As
>> with most things, there is a cost trade-off between bare copper, tinned
>> copper and silver plated copper.  Here is an article that has an
>> interesting discussion about this:
>>
>> https://www.belden.com/blog/broadcast/in-defense-of-tinned-copper
>>
>> 73,
>> Avery, WB4RTP
>>
>>
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