Thursday, April 08, 2010

Followup on Cheap Cables

This is a follow up of the cable problem of the previous post.

From the photograph you can see there is minimal copper braid but an inner foil around the center dielectric. Looking into the cut-a-way connector body I found the crimp was applied metal against cable jacket. There were strands of the copper braid sandwiched between the metal connector body and the cable jacket. That was the extent of the ground connection. The foil did not touch the connector body as the inner chamber of the connector widened out past the cable jacket. I suspect the shield connection had been compromised. The bad connection could have been caused a number of factors such as the copper braid being pushed into the jacket, corrosion of the copper wires, or breakage of the wires.

Photobucket

Moral of the story is if you obtain cheap cables they may work fine but keep in mind they may have limited life. Don't be afraid to chuck them at first sign of trouble. I still prefer my homemade cables made from LMR-240 Ultraflex and the correct connectors for that cable type.

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