
Male end of elbow connector, photo by AC3EK, used by permission
Harry reports: “I had asked about erratic power behavior on the ICOM 7300 on the mode FT8 last Saturdays Q&A. Well it turns out it was the elbow connector I had in line on the back of the rig to my jumper going to my MFJ-697 dummy load/SWR meter. Being a Field Engineer, back the day, with Hewlett Packard Medical (1969-1979), I applied the good ole troubleshooting methods. Lightly tapping on the back right hand corner of the cover to the rig, when it was in the tune function of FT8, I could eliminate the problem, i.e. recover proper power output. Next I grabbed the body of the elbow connector and ever so slightly rocked it and sure enough the problem appeared/disappeared. Next, removed the connector and placed the jumper RG8X directly into the rig. Problem went away. I tapped the top- while in tune mode, and no repeat of the problem. Talking to a fellow ham buddy about this He heard that these elbow connectors can be a problem. Notice in the attached photo (Taken with a Nikon 7000, Sigma lens set for micro photo 1/1000 at F13) of the pin of the male part of the connector in the blown up photo notice the scarring to the pin. Thought I would share this for your library of troubleshooting connectors issue. All is good now!! 73s Harry AC3EK”
Stick to the name brands like Amphenol. Years ago I cut apart a problematic elbow from Radio Shack to discover that it used a spring from the male pin to the female socket. This had weird reactances at RF frequencies. Switching to an Amphenol unit solved the problem.
Thank you very much sir
Good stuff Dave!! I’m not a big fan of PL259 elbows, just another place for a problem….but I do use them if needed.