[TowerTalk] Junk Coonectors (was Re: How lossy are PL-259s at HF?)

Tim Duffy k3lr at k3lr.com
Tue Jun 18 16:13:26 EDT 2024


DX Engineering does stand behind their own brand. Always.
W3LPL said they were all OK as well.

You could have asked me in person when I saw you Saturday.

You should read the patent. It's available on line.

If there is a problem, you can email me directly and I will take care of it. 

73
Tim K3LR
CEO DX Engineering

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Pete Smith N4ZR
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2024 3:38 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Junk Coonectors (was Re: How lossy are PL-259s at HF?)

Any experience with DX Engineering PL-259s?  I bought a half-dozen crimp 
type for RG-8X, on the theory that DXE would stand behind their own name 
brand.  They are even stamped with a DX Engineering patent notice  - 
like what's to patent?  They feel a little lighter than WW2 surplus,but...

73, Pete N4ZR

On 6/18/2024 1:14 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On 6/18/2024 6:15 AM, Rob Atkinson wrote:
>> When shopping for UHF connectors at a hamfest, bring an Amphenol male
>> and use it to test any connectors that have a UHF female involved.  Do
>
> I consider this a fool's errand. The only connectors or adapters I 
> will buy at a hamfest are MIL-surplus or Amphenol-branded, and they're 
> sold by individual hams. I've probably used a hundred or more of them 
> over the years, all bought in lots of 50 or 100 from franchised 
> distributors as part of a group purchase that I or others have 
> organized for clubs to which I've belonged.
>
> For more than 25 years, I've served on the Standards Committee of the 
> Audio Engineering Society, which includes representatives of major 
> manufacturers like Switchcraft, Neutrik, Shure, AKG, Neumann, 
> Audio-Tehcnica, Sennheiser, and Beyer Dynamic. (not Amphenol -- they 
> haven't been in the audio biz for 40-50 years, which Switchcraft and 
> Neutrik have dominated for that long). Over the years, I've seen many 
> reports from some of them about counterfeits of their products. With 
> microphones, the defects are sound quality; with connectors, they're 
> failure to properly mate, dissimilar metals that you can't solder to 
> or degrade with time, dielectrics that melt when you try to solder.
>
> Yes, there are other mfrs of connectors, but I wouldn't go near them 
> unless I was  a mfr who could vet the company, get samples, see their 
> quality control. Years ago, W2VJN did that for some antenna switching 
> products, and he got quality. Our chances of getting quality 
> connectors are about as good as winning the lottery.
>
> When I got back on the air in 2003, I was ignorant of this issue with 
> ham connectors, and bought a lot of adapters to fill my junk box. Over 
> the next 5-6 years, they caused me untold grief trouble-shooting the 
> failures they caused in my station.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
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