On Mon, 25 Aug 2014 11:35:27 EDT, DrTeeth wrote:

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 17:25:15 EDT, just as I was about to take a herb,
Jeff Liebermann disturbed my reverie and wrote:

Ummm... a Flexradio 6300 retails for $2500 and you're trying to be
cheap on coax connectors?

No I was not. I was just asking if it is worth spending more.

I believe that I supplied that information in the technical part of my
posting which you trimmed. If none of the problems I mentioned are
applicable to your situation, then you are probably safe using low end
connectors. However, if one or more appear to be applicable, you
might do well to buy something better. It's YOUR decision.

I am
very happy to pay for quality but not prepared to throw my money away.

On the other hand, I'm fully prepared to spend quite a bit of money on
connectors and coax if I suspect that using junk might be problematic.
For the PL259, the problem is not the connector or the coax. The
problem is the person that assembles the connector. I've seen some
very bad assembly and soldering on PL259. The more expensive crimp
connectors are much better.

Got some very nice RG213 coax too - even though the run will be less
than 10 meters.

RG-213/u is good stuff. Double shielded and 95% coverage. However,
I've seen some RG-213 "style" coax, which is basically junk
counterfeit coax. If it's not from a known name brand manufactory, it
might become a problem.

Just because something is more expensive does not necessarily mean
that it is better. Many things do not sell if priced cheap and fly off
the shelf when over-priced.

Yep. A friend had trouble selling his house. He kept lowering the
price, but nothing helped. The realtor suggested that he raise the
price instead. That worked because it brought in a new class of
buyer, that wasn't interested in buying a cheap house. I assumed that
anyone purchasing a $2500 radio would be a better class of buyer. I
guess not.

I do not mind paying for quality at all. In fact, I have bought some
very expensive high-quality compression PL259s that cost approx $9
each.

I can't tell without a manufacturer and model number for the
connectors if they are worth $9/ea.

Incidentally, I recently bought some 7/8" Heliax "N" connectors for
about $25/ea. It was for 900 Mhz, so the criteria is quite different
from HF. In this case, it was low PIM and reliable enough so that I
don't have to pay an overpriced tower climber to fix the installation.
Perhaps you can compromise with your installation. Use a cheap
connector on the ground, where it can easily be replaced, and use a
more expensive connector on top of the tower or pole, where
replacement and repair are more of a problem.

Incidentally, various cheap crimpers that work well:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/antennas/Misc/slides/crimpers.html
About $25/ea. The largest size (yellow handles) is for LMR-400.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558