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Jumper cable

WRMN374

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WRMN374

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So after finding the right radio and duplexer. What would be a good jumper cable from radio to duplexer both with SO239 male connectors on the end? The length would only be 18" at most. And where is a good place to purchase a morse ID'er or a 15 minute type of system?

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WRMN374 Enthusiast

WRMN374

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1 minute ago, WRMN374 said:

So after finding the right radio and duplexer. What would be a good jumper cable from radio to duplexer both with SO239 male connectors on the end? The length would only be 18" at most. And where is a good place to purchase a morse ID'er or a 15 minute type of system?

Sorry, both radio and duplexer have SO239 female connectors.

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SteveShannon Grand Master

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17 hours ago, WRMN374 said:

Sorry, both radio and duplexer have SO239 female connectors.

SO239 = SOcket

PL259 = PLug

your jumpers need to be terminated with PL259. At 18 inches I would still use an LMR400.  At that length the difference in cost of the cable is small. Most of the cost for a short jumper is in the making.

PL259 connectors connected to SO239 are not weather proof and if subjected to moisture will eventually begin degrading the ends of the cable badly.  There are several kinds of self amalgamating tapes and compounds that can be placed into the fittings to prevent moisture damage.

also gigaparts has a 10% off sale on their ABR jumpers.  I just bought some LMR 400 jumpers from them.  The discount code appears when you click on their special deals advertisement. 

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WROZ250 Community Regular

WROZ250

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1 hour ago, Sshannon said:

PL259 connectors connected to SO239 are not weather proof and if subjected to moisture will eventually begin degrading the ends of the cable badly.  There are several kinds of self amalgamating tapes and compounds that can be placed into the fittings to prevent moisture damage.

also gigaparts has a 10% off sale on their ABR jumpers.  I just bought some LMR 400 jumpers from them.  The discount code appears when you click on their special deals advertisement. 

Agreed!  Unless you are extremely experienced, don't try and make your own jumpers, as @Sshannon stated, buy quality manufactured jumpers of the best cable type you can afford, and absolutely weather proof the connections!!!

(Still can't believe there are duplexers with SO239 connectors...)  :(

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WRMN374 Enthusiast

WRMN374

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3 hours ago, WROZ250 said:

Agreed!  Unless you are extremely experienced, don't try and make your own jumpers, as @Sshannon stated, buy quality manufactured jumpers of the best cable type you can afford, and absolutely weather proof the connections!!!

(Still can't believe there are duplexers with SO239 connectors...)  :(

It's an XLT duplexer.

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WRMN374 Enthusiast

WRMN374

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7 hours ago, Sshannon said:

SO239 = SOcket

PL259 = PLug

your jumpers need to be terminated with PL259. At 18 inches I would still use an LMR400.  At that length the difference in cost of the cable is small. Most of the cost for a short jumper is in the making.

PL259 connectors connected to SO239 are not weather proof and if subjected to moisture will eventually begin degrading the ends of the cable badly.  There are several kinds of self amalgamating tapes and compounds that can be placed into the fittings to prevent moisture damage.

also gigaparts has a 10% off sale on their ABR jumpers.  I just bought some LMR 400 jumpers from them.  The discount code appears when you click on their special deals advertisement. 

I'll check that out. I didn't realize you could make a jumper out of LMR400. Thanks

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WRMN374 Enthusiast

WRMN374

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4 hours ago, Sshannon said:

Good choice. At that length the loss because of cable type is minimal, but it’s good to have quality cables anyway.  I saw also that ABR cables were no longer on sale for 10% off.  

I saw a little tab promoting the sale, but that was it. I did get an email that www.buytwowayradios.com was having a 35 hour GMRS sale on items.

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SteveShannon Grand Master

SteveShannon

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50 minutes ago, WRMN374 said:

I saw a little tab promoting the sale, but that was it. I did get an email that www.buytwowayradios.com was having a 35 hour GMRS sale on items.

When you click on the tab it lists which items are on sale and the discount codes for each of them.  I don't see ABR in the list anymore, but maybe I just missed it.

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wrci350 Rising Star

wrci350

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48 minutes ago, WRMN374 said:

I was searching for the name, and saw it in description. MPD digital Microwave LMR400 w/ PL-259 connectors

I don't see that, but I only gave the listing a quick glance.

Perhaps it was referring to the fact that, in spite of their misleading name ("UHF connectors"), PL-259/SO-239 connectors really aren't that great for UHF.  N connectors are much better (and are more waterproof).  Unfortunately most consumer-grade UHF radios (70cm or dual-band ham, GMRS) and antennas come with SO-239 connectors, probably because the manufacturers don't want to be the odd man out where an adapter is needed if the coax has PL-259s on it.

With that said, I *am* a bit surprised that a UHF repeater and duplexer are using UHF connectors.  Silly question:  Are you sure they aren't N?

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SteveShannon Grand Master

SteveShannon

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49 minutes ago, wrci350 said:

I don't see that, but I only gave the listing a quick glance.

Perhaps it was referring to the fact that, in spite of their misleading name ("UHF connectors"), PL-259/SO-239 connectors really aren't that great for UHF.  N connectors are much better (and are more waterproof).  Unfortunately most consumer-grade UHF radios (70cm or dual-band ham, GMRS) and antennas come with SO-239 connectors, probably because the manufacturers don't want to be the odd man out where an adapter is needed if the coax has PL-259s on it.

With that said, I *am* a bit surprised that a UHF repeater and duplexer are using UHF connectors.  Silly question:  Are you sure they aren't N?

The link he provided definitely says SO239

  • Connectors: SO-239 (UHF Female)
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wrci350 Rising Star

wrci350

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2 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

The link he provided definitely says SO239

  • Connectors: SO-239 (UHF Female)

Ah I missed that, thanks.

Which makes sense (in a way) since it talks about using the duplexer with two KG-1000G radios, which (of course; see my previous post) have SO-239 connectors too.  There is nothing that prohibits one from having a cable with PL-259 on one end and N on the other, but those are probably much less common than jumpers with the same connectors on either end.

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WRMN374 Enthusiast

WRMN374

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26 minutes ago, wrci350 said:

Ah I missed that, thanks.

Which makes sense (in a way) since it talks about using the duplexer with two KG-1000G radios, which (of course; see my previous post) have SO-239 connectors too.  There is nothing that prohibits one from having a cable with PL-259 on one end and N on the other, but those are probably much less common than jumpers with the same connectors on either end.

You're right. I'm learning as I go also. I've checked the specs for the radio and duplexer twice. I have the names in the above comments. Yes, the antenna has an N type connector. So antenna line will be PL-259 to N connector. Like wrci350 said, N connectors are waterproof. Maybe SO-239/PL-259 are more for indoor environments.

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WRMN374 Enthusiast

WRMN374

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47 minutes ago, WRMN374 said:

Initially, I was thinking 18" of LMR400 for jumper. But now I think more like 2-3' due to the flexibility.

This is the stand for radio. I've since moved to exterior wall, to get more cable onto tower. Can I put duplexer more towards the floor, so antenna cable comes in straight and use jumper cable to attach to radios? This way would eliminate extreme bends for 1/2" Heliax, but may require longer jumper cables

radio.jpg

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n4gix Collaborator

n4gix

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On 4/21/2022 at 1:11 PM, wrci350 said:

in spite of their misleading name ("UHF connectors"), PL-259/SO-239 connectors really aren't that great for UHF.

Ah the PL-259 (and its sister SO-239) connector. No one connector has engendered more commentary on performance issues than these. These connectors also have the name of ‘UHF’ Connector as if to suggest they perform well at 300+ MHz. Once upon a time, when the PL259 was born, 30 MHz was UHF.

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