Patch Coax

[Beetle]

I see on that ebay link that these are indeed "Amphenol". Be aware that Amphenol also makes lower price connectors. If you see the number "1050" anywhere on the connector, it is very likely nickel plated, especially if it's shiny and bright. These don't solder well. Amphenol 83-1SP is what you need to look for. If the "1050" is there, don't buy.

 

[W9WD]

The ones I bought say

Amphenol 83-ISP-1050
74868 PL-259 49190

 

[Beetle]

The ones I bought say

Amphenol 83-ISP-1050
74868 PL-259 49190

There's the "1050". That's why they were so cheap; there's no silver plating on these, just nickel -- which doesn't solder worth beans.

Doesn't matter whether Amphenol made them, these are their "economy" connector, aimed at newer hams and CBers who might see the name "Amphenol" and think they can do no wrong. Sort of like seeing the name "Bird" on a wattmeter and believing they are in the presence of deity.

 

[W9WD]

So far the couple I have used have worked fine.
Maybe 'm doing something wrong.....

 

[W5LZ]

I think the only 'Amphenol's I've ever used were the '1050's, haven't had any problems with them so far. Not particularly difficult to solder at all. Huh... maybe I'm doing something wrong too??
- 'Doc

 

[Beetle]

Get some of the silver plated connectors and see if there's a difference in how well they "work".

There are those who say the G5RV is a great antenna and "works" just fine. This is generally because they have never used a GOOD antenna, so they have nothing to compare the G5RV to.

Same way with connectors.

 

[Robb]

I just finished putting together a whole load of patch cables for YamahaDude. He put his system together with six radios into a mechanical MFJ 6/1 switch. It leaves the 6/1 switch and goes thru a meter - then a filter. After the filter it goes into another switch and it goes to either an Xforce or a TexasStar DX500. After that, it goes to another switch that funnels it back down to one line that goes thru another meter, another filter, and then out to the antenna.

I put all of the patch cords together with mini 8X before the linears. 3, 6, and 12 foot lengths. After the linears, it gets the thick 58/U. All of them were put together with the Amphenol silver plated connectors. Man, that was a job! Solder sticks like crazy to the Amphenol silver plated connectors. In fact, if I wasn't careful with the iron, I would be getting it into the threads and it was hard to get it out. The SWR match was right on the money thru this whole thing - that is a fact! Those Amphenol silver plated connectors are the best - IMO...

 

[Moleculo]

I don't know who makes the ones I usually get. They just say "Made in USA" in fairly large type-set on the connector. They are a very thick connector compared to some others I've used, silver plated and very dull in color. They are excellent - solder sticks to them like glue and are just effortless to make patch cables with. I would like to know who makes them because it's hard to order them online and get the correct ones.

Sort of like seeing the name "Bird" on a wattmeter and believing they are in the presence of deity.

Now THAT's classic, right there. LOL

 

[Beetle]

The dull appearance of the finish is the tipoff: silver tarnishes very quickly just sitting in ambient atmosphere, and even quicker when handled with bare hands. Fortunately, silver oxide is just as good a conductor as clean silver. Copper oxide and aluminum oxide are relatively poor conductors.

In doing some research on the Amphenol 83-1SP 1050, it looks like they may be changing the plating on the base metal from nickel to tin. I believe tin is cheaper than nickel, and the cost of the electrical power for the plating process should be the same.

If/when this happens, the "tin 1050s" may be worth a look. Tin is, obviously, one of the components of tin/lead solder, so soldering should be vastly improved over the nickel plated connectors.

 

[mackmobile43]

Get some of the silver plated connectors and see if there's a difference in how well they "work".

There are those who say the G5RV is a great antenna and "works" just fine. This is generally because they have never used a GOOD antenna, so they have nothing to compare the G5RV to.

Same way with connectors.

That's funny, I had 2 gentlemen in dx the other day tell me that they had me 3 full s-units higher on the g5rv than my .64 wave gp, go figure, I guess the antennas never heard about this.

 

[Beetle]

That's funny, I had 2 gentlemen in dx the other day tell me that they had me 3 full s-units higher on the g5rv than my .64 wave gp, go figure, I guess the antennas never heard about this.

"Even a blind pig can find a truffle." ... old French proverb.

By "good antenna", I was referring to something like three or four elements' worth of yagi or quad. I worked the world with a 3-band ground plane in 1960 and I thought it was a "great" antenna. Then I got a 3 element Hornet beam and my definition of "great" was immediately expanded.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

That's funny, I had 2 gentlemen in dx the other day tell me that they had me 3 full s-units higher on the g5rv than my .64 wave gp, go figure, I guess the antennas never heard about this.

Unless you have your G5RV mounted vertically I would say the differance was due to polarity differance and nothing at all as to antenna performance.It is quite common for a simple groundplane to outperform a five element horizontal beam if conditions favour vertical polarity at the time.

 

[mackmobile43]

"Even a blind pig can find a truffle." ... old French proverb.

By "good antenna", I was referring to something like three or four elements' worth of yagi or quad. I worked the world with a 3-band ground plane in 1960 and I thought it was a "great" antenna. Then I got a 3 element Hornet beam and my definition of "great" was immediately expanded.

''Don't bring a knife to a gun fight''... old American proverb which is what you're saying now, I replied to the statement you posted and now you come back explaining why you said it, my G5RV is mounted horizontally at 30' and beat the .64 to a mobile(antenna unkown) and a base using a 5/8 wave gp.

I also have experience with stacked,co-phase and mutiple quad style beam antennas and know all to well about the differences in gain but the fact of the matter is that tropospheric conditions do tend to dictate propogation as best we try to make it our domain.