W7TI wrote:
IMO, a poor design to begin with.

There is the alternative of the pressure-sleeve PL-259, which fits
regular RG213 or RG58, and you assemble it by screwing down a nut. Only
the centre conductor requires soldering.

"This is not your father's MIL cable clamp" as used on so many BNCs and
Ns of US origin, which tears off the braid and pulls out easily. This
one works - the whole cable will tear apart before it pulls out the rear
of the plug. Pressure-sleeve BNCs and Ns are so much better, I won't
ever buy the old MIL type any more.

More recently, PL-259s and cable jacks have become available with the
pressure-sleeve clamp too, mainly through the Multicomp brand sold by
Farnell in Britain. Try www.farnell.com/uk and search for order codes
724804, 724816 as examples. The product line includes plugs and cable
jacks for RG213 and for RG58 - that's two separate sizes (no adaptor).

These connectors are more expensive, but they are the only ones that
avoid the problems of heavy-duty soldering outdoors. For that situation
they can be an absolute godsend.

(Well, there's also crimp, but crimp is one of those techniques that's
useless unless it's done perfectly. The price of the correct tool to
make a full hex crimp around RG213 will buy a lot of pressure-sleeve
connectors. Also, the pressure-sleeve clamp is waterproof in its own
right, which the crimp is not.)

Last time I posted this information, about two years ago, there was a
lot of interest from the USA, so here's what I know.

Availability in the USA used to be poor... and may still be. The
pressure sleeve clamp was invented by the British company Greenpar
AFAIK, but was also licensed to G-E who used to make a PL-259 and may
still do so - so G-E is one place to look.

Otherwise you have to follow the company takeover trail, to see where
the technology went. Greenpar was bought by M/A-com and the idea seemed
to disappear; then the M/A-com connector line was bought in turn by AMP
and by Tyco.

The Greenpar name has recently resurfaced as a Tyco brand, and quite
possibly the connectors have too. Farnell now stock a "Tyco Greenpar"
PL-259 which is probably pressure-sleeve, and obviously will be
available in the USA (but even more expensive than the Multicomp
connector). Another possible lead in the USA is Newark, which is owned
by Farnell and is now beginning to stock some Multicomp parts.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
Editor, 'The VHF/UHF DX Book'
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek