[TowerTalk] Feedline (choke) question

[Jim Brown]

On 10/2/2025 7:55 AM, Steve Harrison wrote:
> However, it is a fact that connectors of the 1/2"-size (which includes 
> UHF, type N, and even type C with their extra-thick center pin) do heat 
> up when a kilowatt or more is passed through them, particularly at V/UHF.

Have you observed this issue with top quality connectors? There are a 
LOT of junk connectors and inter-series adapters on the market. Ignorant 
of this, when I got back on the air in 2003, I stocked up on a lot of 
unbranded adapters that turned out to be junk. Over the next 5 years, I 
experienced almost a dozen failures that I chased down to one of these 
junk connectors.

In my experience, if the connector doesn't say Amphenol, and of the 
"real" Amphenol, not from one of their acquired companies, or is stamped 
with a MIL-spec number, it's very likely junk.

That's not to say that there aren't decent connectors from other mfrs, 
but if you're not a company with the engineering resources to seriously 
QC them, they should be avoided.

I'm not talking about connectors for hard line or for CATV coax, which 
are each their own market. The only issues I've experienced with hard 
line connectors is getting the right connector for the line, and the 
only RG6 CATV cables I'm using are for RX antennas. I did inherit some 
1/2-in CATV cable from a silent key, and successfully used it to feed a 
couple of monobanders, using 83-1SPs in a clamped interface, without 
issues. One of those runs is still in service more than ten years later. 
The other was replaced when I replaced the antenna last year, but not 
because the line had failed.

73, Jim K9YC