RCA phono jacks on Heath gear

[Joe Buch]

At 20:34 10/28/98 -0800, Ian Webb wrote:

>I remember reading somewhere in the past that the good quality RCA jacks are
>as good, if not better, than the PL/SO 239 series "UHF connectors" when one
>looks at impedance bump (mismatch).

TV sets have long used RCA plugs/jacks for the interface between the tuner
and the IF strip.  This is at approximately 45 MHz.  Any reflections here
could cause problems in NTSC color video.

Ten-Tec used RCA plugs/jacks for the output of the Argonaut transceivers
and the input of their companion linear amplifier.

The Icom 726 I worked on a few years ago used RCA plugs/jacks for most
inter-board RF connections.

RCA plugs and jacks are simple to assemble compared to BNC or PL-259/SO-239
UHF coax connectors.

An RCA plug/jack combination sells for $.53 in 500 unit quantities.  The
cheapest BNC male/female pair is $1.71 in 250 unit quantities.  The BNC
connector is the closest commonly available connector to the RCA in terms
of physical footprint.  Somebody who mass produces electronic equipment
looks for every chance to cut costs.  If the electrical performance meets
requirements, they will always go for the cheapest approach.  (Prices above
are from the Mouser catalog 594.  You may be able to do better.  Prices
shown for comparative purposes only.)

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