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Coax Connection

P

PaulR

Well Known Member
I'm in process of wiring and read a thread the other day about the radio coax connections. It said that "standard" practice was to solder a short (6") pc of coax to the connector on the tray and put a BNC connector on it's end to faciltate removal. Sounds like a good idea to me but I'm not an EE so I don't know what the additional connectors add for loss.
The Garmin trays I have (SL-30 and GTX-327) both have solder type connectors. I've found a DBA-600 that would replace the stock one in the 327 so a BNC would hook directly up, but the ones on the SL-30 are held on with shoulder type nuts so the float more. Is there a replacement for these that would accept a BNC connector or should I just solder on a short pc?

Thanks
 
I'd Use "as is"

The trays already have a connector attached so removing the radios from the trays is easy. If you need to disconnect the coax from the tray then you need to reach behind which is no big deal. There are bigger problems than disconnecting the coax if you want to remove the tray. The fewer joints the better the signal.

2 cents worth as usual :)

Jim Sharkey
RV-6 Phase 1
 
Not a big deal either way, but...

I'll throw in a vote for the other side of the coin. Add a "pig-tail". There will be times when you will need to remove the tray. Such as an avionics or panel upgrade, or even just to change the coax itself. The other connections can be left in place by unscrewing the connector from the tray.
I have always found it convenient to have a way to disconnect the coax.
 
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There is not a good replacement for those specialized SL coax connectors, hence the reason we all mostly pigtail them out with a connector. On things like these radios that extra connection won't matter in the scheme of things. On the RV12 Van's elected to run the coax from the antenna all the way right into the tray with their philosophy being that between the coax and the ability to remove the connector that it wouldn't be an issue. Still, we prefer a pigtail on panels that we built or avionics that we wire.

They do need to float - the one on the transponder floats as well...so make sure whatever you replace it with is as good as the one you're removing. Sometimes things like this start out as good ideas on paper, but in reality cause gremlins or headaches down the road. I'd stick with what the mfgr provides, and go with standard recommended practices for installation.

My 2 cents as usual!

Cheers,
Stein
 
On the ICOM A210, there's a connector on the tray. I'm not seeing how adding a pig tail helps here. Just reach up and take the antenna off the connection at the tray, right?
 
Bob Collins said:
On the ICOM A210, there's a connector on the tray. I'm not seeing how adding a pig tail helps here. Just reach up and take the antenna off the connection at the tray, right?
Click to expand...
On many trays, the antenna uses a "solder on" connector. This is the type where a "pig-tail" is recommended. If the tray includes a female BNC, a pig-tail is not needed.
 
Thanks

Thanks for all the help.

I have one more question concerning audio in another thread.


Happy New Year!
 
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