Right angle bnc connector

[1998]

I had purchased a right angle bnc connector to attatch an antenna to my pro-160 scanner. I connected it and the antenna and i couldn't pick anything up. Than i directly attatched the antenna to the scanner and the scanner picked everything up just fine. Do connectors have signal loss in some way? I can't understand why it wouldn't work.

Thanks in advance,
Jake

 

[SmitHans]

All connectors have some signal loss, some more than others. With some of the right angle connectors, I have found that i had to really push it into the antenna jack with force, even when the regular antenna didn't require this.

 

[jackj]

All adapters will have some signal loss but it is going to be less than 0.1 db for a quality right angle connector. You should NOT notice any difference in the performance of your scanner. Unplug the connector and look it over carefully. Check for a bent or missing pin on the female end or a broken insulator on the male end. If you have an ohm meter or some type of continuity checker, see if you have a short between the pin and the case --- you shouldn't have continuity. Check to see if you have continuity through the adapter.

 

[W2NJS]

Could be a quality issue. Many coax connectors are cheap, imported, crappy units, made with little or no quality control. You'll find them for 60 cents each at a hamfest, and a couple of tables away you'll find Amphenol-branded connectors for three bucks each. I didn't believe this quality issue until my manufacturing manager years ago showed me the difference between a cheap BNC connector and an Amphenol. The cheap one jiggled when on the barrel of the female connector but the Amphenol was extremely tight. That was enough to convince me.

 

[RKG]

With the connector not connected to anything, run a continuity check on both the center lead and the shield.

 

[GTR8000]

You got a bum adapter. Toss it and get yourself a good quality one by a reputable manufacturer like the Amphenol 31-9 or 31-9-RFX, or the RF Industries RFB-1132

 

[1998]

Thanks for all your help. I'll get rid of the one I have and try one of those Amphenol or RF Industries adapters.