ContestID67 wrote:

Next question: Being a person that likes to frequent hamfests (great
stuff for electronics nerds like myself - see http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html
for details), I see lots of RF connectors for sale. It appears that
the connector plating material of choice is not gold but silver.
Maybe it is the cost savings but it seems counter-productive to use
silver as it obviously tarnishes quite quickly (and I assume that is
bad).

Tarnished silver has the remarkable property of remaining conductive, so
it doesn't cause problems. The gold flashing is usually used on the
center pins only.

And to vote with John C, my experience with ungreased, unprotected BNC
connectors sitting outside is they work well for decades if they were
properly assembled to begin with. I would not be concerned with the
connector at all inside a fuselage.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
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