Kauto,
I completely agree. I do not use PL-259 at work except for some Marine radio equipment. Motorola mobile has gone to the mini-UHF and cellular is mostly TNC. Base stations and repeaters are all N-connectors as are the duplexers. All my antennas have N connectors as do the hardline runs.
What I hear from local hams is "its too hard to assemble N connectors" to which I say "hogwash" (a US term meaning ridiculous). N connectors only require soldering the center pin which normally is gold plated. PL-259s require "tons of heat" to solder the shield which risks melting the center insulator of the coax. I have more instances of shorted PL-259 connectors.
MY DEMI xvtrs all are equipped with N-female and BNC connectors for RF connections. It seems that mostly ham radios made in Japan come with SO-239 (female) connectors...and I would say this is because US hams are requesting them on their equipment (or have in the past).
My FT-847 has one N connector for 70cm but the other bands are all SO-239. I added two sma connectors for separate Rx antennas on 2m and 70cm. All my mw gear use either N, TNC, or sma's.......so???
73, Ed - KL7UW
At 02:32 AM 12/27/2008, Kauto Huopio OH2LFM wrote:
I have an Elk myself, bought originally for emergency prepardness ops. Have tried with satellites couple of times - with very favourable results. One odd thing - why PL-256 connectors are still used in 2m/70cm equipment sold in US? We have a saying that PL-256 is a screwable banana plug connector.. at 70cm, loss is already noticeable.
Why the ham radio equipment industry can't supply equipment with appropriate connectors like N on rigs and antennas to US market? In Europe, N is the way to go on yagis, amps and rigs on 2m and 70cm gear.
--Kauto OH2LFM
-- Kauto Huopio OH2LFM - [email protected] Hansakallionkuja 12 A 1, 02780 Espoo, Finland Tel. +358-40-5008774 (gsm) _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Terminating N connectors (or C, BNC, TNC and others) is identical to terminating PL-259s if you buy good quality 259s.
Edward Cole wrote:
What I hear from local hams is "its too hard to assemble N connectors" to which I say "hogwash" (a US term meaning ridiculous).
Hi Nigel,
PL-259 is NOT a constant impedance connector while N connectors or C, BNC, TNC, SMA are constance impedance and this make a great difference matching devices to 50 ohm when the frequency becames high and the lenght of a PL-259 is a considerable part of a wavelenght.
Figure out what happens using a PL-259 at 10 GHz i.e. at a wavelenght of 3 cm
Since N/m (male connector) or N/f (female connectors ) are constant impedance provided they are properly assembled to the coax cable they can be used up to 12 GHz
For additional informations read the following page.
http://www.maurymw.com/support/pdfs/5A-021.pdf
73" de
i8CVS Domenico
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF" [email protected] To: "Edward Cole" [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 5:53 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Elk Antenna vs Arrow Antenna
Terminating N connectors (or C, BNC, TNC and others) is identical to terminating PL-259s if you buy good quality 259s.
Edward Cole wrote:
What I hear from local hams is "its too hard to assemble N connectors" to which I say "hogwash" (a US term meaning ridiculous).
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (3)
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Edward Cole
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i8cvs
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Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF