[TowerTalk] Reliability (or not) of SMA connectors

[gwj at me.com]

I’ve worked on dozens of different airborne and army ground-mobile RF assemblies over my career, as well as poking my nose inside many pieces of commercial RF gear. SMA connectors were everywhere. NEVER have I seen or heard of any kind of sealant, overcoat, or anything of the sort on any SMA connector. Above all, putting anything inside the threads is simply asking for trouble. TORQUE IT PROPERLY and be done with it. A quality SMA connector is a high-precision machined assembly and must be treated with care. See the old HP application note AN-326. They are in fact vibration-resistant when correctly installed. Proper torque is also mandatory to avoid well-known frequency response aberrations in the mid-GHz range due to waveguide effects.

Of course, if your connectors are all crap and/or damaged, none of the above applies...

Gary, NA6O