Bill On paper, you're right. For the vast majority of hams, N connectors are silly.
However, there are many other considerations of station design that influence connector choice. Most of my connections are outdoors and my station is built with nearly 100% hardline. All cables can be used and swapped for any frequency I might use, 1.8 MHz to 2.4 GHz, and I frequently play around with odds and ends like this. If I was a typical ham, running an HF/VHF station employing conventional coax, then that would probably also mean I'd use the PL-259. But I am not the typical ham. Another consideration is the sheer amount of cables and connectors I have, probably 100+ connections, and almost a half-mile of cable. The N connector is significantly more durable and reliable than the PL-259 when installed and supported properly; in fact, only the 7-16 DIN is more durable in practice. I simply can not afford the time to maintain multiple connector types. Correctly installed, an N fitting should never be subject to a pull-stress of the type you describe, and I have never heard of a thermally related failure, in 22 years of broadcast engineering work, in many climates. No commercial communications infrastructure today uses the PL-259 and for good reason. Most hams need to save a buck or two and that is fine, but for a truly flexible and reliable installation, there's no way I'd select the PL-259. /steve __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com