The old "UHF" connectors (SO-, PL- numbers) common on amateur
HF and low-VHF equipment were obsolete for new designs a half
century ago. Those are cheap because there isn't much QC on
them and the tolerances are sloppy in comparison.

It is good for many purposes, even up to 432MHz - in spite of what
somebody says. In the local radio club the problem is that they don't
like to solder and even SO239/PL259 means a great problem. Not to
mention a club which went into a very large scale of antenna
installations for CQ-WW contest last year and discovered that some of
the antennas which were put up few days before didn't work any more
===============
There are High quality PL259 connectors with teflon insulation where only
the (gold plated) centre pin has to be soldered .
The braid connection is like an N-connector with a 'flanged braid insert'
..
They are relatively expensive (GBP 3.00 = US$ 4.50) ,yet I have adopted them
as standard for all the necessary 'UHF' connections in the shack.
In the UK these connectors are available from Westlake.

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH