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Old 07-07-2020, 10:24 AM   #12
syjos
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City: Gig Harbor
Vessel Name: Sandpiper
Vessel Model: Bluewater 40 Pilothouse Trawler
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,315
I use the Shakespeare solderless connectors and they work just as well as soldering.

I tested both a solderless connector and a soldered connector on the same antenna with a Shakespeare ART 3 tester.

The VSWR (antenna efficiency) and output power was exactly the same with both soldered and solderless connectors.

One thing I noted was the difference in performance with an improperly soldered connection. Using a gas torch to solder produced a better solder connection than using a 300 watt soldering gun. The ART 3 comes in handy for checking the quality of the soldering.

And yes, a Digital Antenna VHF with the screw on connector is the best way to go. But for shorter runs it's still best to shorten the coax to reduce signal loss.
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