Why are there UHF connectors on 70 cm radios?

[James86004]

One of the electrical engineers I works with is a former FCC enforcement officer. When I was talking to him about the antenna hookup for my rig, he was surprised to learn that a lot of dual band radios (ie, the Yaesu FT-8800R) use a UHF connector (PL-259/SO-239). He says those connectors are horrible above 300 MHz.

Now I am puzzled, although I will admit something may have been lost in translation.

 

[gary in ohio]

Ironically UHF connectors are not great on UHF (70cm) but for the typical ham radio stations they work fine.

N connectors are whats typically used in commercial UHF systems.

 

[PhulesAU]

the only answer I can give you, will sound very smartazzed but..... It's very universal and hams are Cheap at heart. Along with "it works, why fix it"? Most of us will never miss any kind of loss in the system. Also we have the advantage of adding more power, commercial users don't.

 

[Tennmogger]

UHF connectors are not matched for 50 Ohm coax, or any standard impedance. Other coaxial connectors are constant impedance 52 Ohm matched connectors and are "best" for the purist. 'N' type and BNC type (and others ) are even available in impedance matched versions for other cable types, like 72 Ohm.

As Gary said, UHF connectors are fine for ham use. Just don't try to use them on your vector network analyzer or time domain reflectometer.

Bob

One of the electrical engineers I works with is a former FCC enforcement officer. When I was talking to him about the antenna hookup for my rig, he was surprised to learn that a lot of dual band radios (ie, the Yaesu FT-8800R) use a UHF connector (PL-259/SO-239). He says those connectors are horrible above 300 MHz.

Now I am puzzled, although I will admit something may have been lost in translation.

 

[SunTzuNephew]

It's also a matter of definitions. PL-259 (UHF connectors) are not OK at 299.99999 Mhz and suddenly become horrible at 300.00000MHz. The higher in frequency (in the UHF band, 300-3000MHz) you go, the worse their performance becomes. At UHF Ham freqs they're OK.

If someone is really worried, they can be replaced with N connectors (or whatever). Finding those connectors that will fit the small diameter coax can be hard.

I generally just do a really good job of attaching the connectors to the coax, and then when I attach the radio I add some silicone grease to minimize the chance of corrosion in the connector (which has a far greater effect than the performance at 440MHz).