Making a Feed I Can Live With
a.k.a. Making a silk purse from a sow's ear

 

Cushcraft, for some reason - likely marketing - presents the gain of their antennas in dBi, not dBd as most do. That makes it look like they have an the same gain as a longer boom, but subtract 2.15 dB from the dBi and you have a number to match with the rest of the pack.

 

When I opened the carton to inspect the first antenna for shipping damage I checked out the feed point Cushcraft provided and was much less than impressed. The "user interface" turns out to be a cheap SO239 made of aluminum with a clear plastic insulator. With this (maybe) 29 cent connector it was obvious that it's mechanical ability under these conditions was going to stretched. I tossed it on the bench and set out to make a new feedpoint with N connectors.

 

The "El Cheapo" SO239 on the left.

Notice the radial crack, visible at the 8 o'clock position

The business end of an Amphenol UG58A/U panel mount N Type connector.
This new feedpoint uses a copper stud from the transistor. This is easier to solder than stainless steel and the flat tab rests neatly in the center pin of the N connector stub.
The Teflon from the standoff was removed, drilled out and offers mechanical stability to the soldered connection.
Which connector do you want?
You could also use an Amphenol UHF panel mount if you're using RG8 style coax.
Finished and ready to go!
With this new feed point I can chuck the N to UHF adaptors and mate the N connectors of my harness directly. N connectors are much more water resistant too, plus the new feedpoint offer a much better seal than the El Cheapo one supplied making prep of the match much easier.

22-Sep-2014