Batboard

Hi,

I have to deal with a lot of marine VHF equipment, and now that King's / Winchester is no longer making UHF connectors, I'm having a hard time finding a quality replacement for those connectors. PL259 is shoot-on-sight in this shop and we've had mixed results with available products from the usual suspects.

As much as I hate this connector, I don't see it going away in the marine world anytime soon, and would like to find a quality part for RG-58 sized cables.

What would you recommend?

Thanks,

-C.

cablemonkey wrote:Hi,

I have to deal with a lot of marine VHF equipment, and now that King's / Winchester is no longer making UHF connectors, I'm having a hard time finding a quality replacement for those connectors. PL259 is shoot-on-sight in this shop and we've had mixed results with available products from the usual suspects.

As much as I hate this connector, I don't see it going away in the marine world anytime soon, and would like to find a quality part for RG-58 sized cables.

What would you recommend?

Thanks,

-C.

Have you tried looking at some of the large supply houses like Hutton and Tessco?

They carry several different brands of RF connectors of all types, with both male and female. They also have a good selection of adapters.

Jim

Some years ago the product manager for LeFebure's CCTV group showed me the quality differences between
domestic and foreign made BNC connectors. The domestic units were tight with no side-to-side
wiggle between the male and female connectors. The foreign-made units were really sloppy and
it was apparent that the male center pin would always be slapping around and bending within the
female connector. Until that time I'd always thought that "a connector is a connector," but the demonstration
showed me that it's just not true.

FWIW, the specific connector to put RG-58 on a PL-259 is the UG-175U. For RG-8X it's the UG-176U.

I prefer Cambridge. RF Industries' PL259s are garbage and the conductor is too short. If you want to be separated from your money you can buy Amphenol.

The best choice is to not use one, remember the PL259 is simply a shielded banana plug.

I either swap the connector on the radio or, if that's not possible, permanently fit an N to PL259 adapter held with a drop of thread lock (not too much as the threads are unfortunately part of the RF circuit), tighten with vice grips and it's done. I use the Emerson Network Power, P/N 26-8014, from Tessco.

Sometimes you end up short of space behind the radio so options are right angle N connector on the end of the feeder cable.

Thanks for the ideas. I got excited for a minute when I saw the Cambridge line, but it would appear, much like Kings, that the part has been discontinued.

We've tried Pasternack, RF industries, Amphenol, no-name offshore, and Emerson power. They all 'get the job done' but I'm looking for the highest quality part available for the operational environment and public safety service this equipment is in.

I like the permanently attached N-adaptor idea but the size of the fleet makes that approach unfeasible.

The quest for the best crimped UHF connector continues.

Amphenol-Connex 182121 Silver plated/teflon insulator. Not cheap, one of the best currently available. Or you can pay much more for "mil-spec".

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/AIM ... 8yadTPw%3d

????

http://www.amphenolrf.com/record.asp?N= ... &R=083-1SP
http://drawings.amphenolrf.com/CUSTOMER ... 83-1SP.PDF

Silver plated, Teflon insulator. Adapter required for RG58

Available from DigiKey, Mouser, Allied, Tessco

Thanks for the replies guys. We don't use PL259, at all. That's what I meant by 'shoot on sight'

I ordered the Cambridge part from Mouser and received Emerson Power CPL2591 parts, made in Taiwan.

I guess we know who bought the Cambridge tooling for that part. Anyway, I'll try these and keep looking. Every now and then I find a vendor with deadstock of the Kings parts, and snap them up, but those are becoming much less frequent.