Back in 10/2015 I discovered the BNC antenna connector was intermittent. This was caused by me when I first hooked up the scanner I hooked up the antenna feed line, Belden 9913, directly to the scanner. Also contributing to the problem is that every time there are any thunderstorms forecast I disconnect all of the antennas on my radios.
I fabricated an RG58 pigtail between the scanner and the 9913 but the problem still was getting worse. So i decided to replace the antenna connector. Someone else here on RR had described replacing just the BNC connector while using the little pigtail again with the new connector. I found that the pigtail on the original connector was only about 1.5" in length and ended up being too short after I removed the old BNC connector.
So I did a search and found a company the would make a pigtail for me, in low quantities, for not too much money. The company is fieldcomponents.com. I order 4 pigtails each with a chassis mount BNC on 1 end and a micro-MCX right angle on the other. I also specified 4" of RG316 coax. Each pigtail was $20.70. It was worth it for me to have the pigtail professionally built for me.
I have changed out the pigtail in 2 of my 3 536HPs with no problems and great performance. The only problem I found was that the BNC connector on the pigtail is about 1/8" larger diameter than the original BNC. So I used a 1/2" Greenlee metal punch to enlarge the hole. Once the hole was enlarged the new BNC fit great. With the 4" of coax I was able to make a nice gentle bend in the coax and the micro-MCX connector went in very easy. I made the bend in the coax prior to tightening the BNC connector so that the MCX connector lined up perfectly with the connector on the PCB. Make sure the MCX connector on the pigtail is lined upas close to perfect as possible before pushing the connectors together.
I've attached a picture of 1 of the spare pigtails I have.
DISCLAIMER:The only thing I would caution anyone about is that if you've never work on this type of radio or small electronics or small connectors then I would find someone who is more adept at this type of modification do the work. If you choose to make the mod yourself you are on your own. I don't provide tech support and if you mess up the MCX connectors don't blame me. Like I said if you haven't worked on radio like this or worked with small connectors then don't do the mod.
I fabricated an RG58 pigtail between the scanner and the 9913 but the problem still was getting worse. So i decided to replace the antenna connector. Someone else here on RR had described replacing just the BNC connector while using the little pigtail again with the new connector. I found that the pigtail on the original connector was only about 1.5" in length and ended up being too short after I removed the old BNC connector.
So I did a search and found a company the would make a pigtail for me, in low quantities, for not too much money. The company is fieldcomponents.com. I order 4 pigtails each with a chassis mount BNC on 1 end and a micro-MCX right angle on the other. I also specified 4" of RG316 coax. Each pigtail was $20.70. It was worth it for me to have the pigtail professionally built for me.
I have changed out the pigtail in 2 of my 3 536HPs with no problems and great performance. The only problem I found was that the BNC connector on the pigtail is about 1/8" larger diameter than the original BNC. So I used a 1/2" Greenlee metal punch to enlarge the hole. Once the hole was enlarged the new BNC fit great. With the 4" of coax I was able to make a nice gentle bend in the coax and the micro-MCX connector went in very easy. I made the bend in the coax prior to tightening the BNC connector so that the MCX connector lined up perfectly with the connector on the PCB. Make sure the MCX connector on the pigtail is lined upas close to perfect as possible before pushing the connectors together.
I've attached a picture of 1 of the spare pigtails I have.
DISCLAIMER:The only thing I would caution anyone about is that if you've never work on this type of radio or small electronics or small connectors then I would find someone who is more adept at this type of modification do the work. If you choose to make the mod yourself you are on your own. I don't provide tech support and if you mess up the MCX connectors don't blame me. Like I said if you haven't worked on radio like this or worked with small connectors then don't do the mod.
