Type N connectors are not in common use above 6 GHz. Believe me or not. You wanna go above 6, there are plenty of other cheaper and better connectors to use. N connector concentricity is not inherent to the design of the connector. And concentricity is essential to good return loss.
You send me an N connector cable. I will put it on a load and connect it to a vector network analyzer with a smith chart on the screen. Will record video. Then I will wiggle the cable and back off the connector a bit you can see for yourself the dot (arc actually) wander all over the place. The higher the frequency the more it becomes a wild line. Then I will do the same for SMA and you can see for yourself which one is more stable. Opinions don’t matter. A dot is a dot, an arc is an arc and a squiggly line is a squiggly line. From: Josh Reynolds Sent: Friday, July 01, 2016 7:53 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Convert Andrew Dragonwave dishes to N So, nothing personal by this... but if the connector is designed for it (and has several versions by other manufacturers to boot), has been used (and is still used) on testing equipment... I'm probably more inclined to take their word for it over yours. On Jul 1, 2016 7:58 PM, "Chuck McCown" <ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote: IMHO, 6 GHz is the upper limit. From: Peter Kranz Sent: Friday, July 01, 2016 5:22 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Convert Andrew Dragonwave dishes to N “Originally, the connector was designed to carry signals at frequencies up to 1 GHz in military applications, but today's common Type N easily handles frequencies up to 11 GHz. More recent precision enhancements to the design by Julius Botka at Hewlett Packard have pushed this to 18 GHz.” http://inmet.apitech.com/inmet/micro-inmet-between-typen.cfm Peter Kranz www.UnwiredLtd.com Desk: 510-868-1614 x100 Mobile: 510-207-0000 pkr...@unwiredltd.com From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Chuck McCown Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2016 3:24 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Convert Andrew Dragonwave dishes to N Yeah, I think this is a case of somebody bowing their neck - a pissing contest between a boss and underlings at UBNT. From: Eric Kuhnke Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2016 4:19 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Convert Andrew Dragonwave dishes to N I have never in my life personally seen an N connector rated above 11 GHz. High-quality/expensive N connectors are used extensively in two way satellite - such as with 3.0 meter C-band Tx/Rx earth station dishes... But you only use N for the 50 ohm coax cables from the modem (indoors) to the electronics which lives directly attached to the waveguide/feed on the dish (Rx LNB and Tx SSPA/BUC). The coax is used between 1.2 to 1.8 GHz to communicate with the Tx and Rx electronics on the dish. A satellite LNB on the Rx side is basically a 10:1 ratio downconverter. Like so: http://beta.satcomresources.com/sca/images/NORS3120N_detail-3.jpg There's your single polarity waveguide interface on one side, N on the other. On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 6:49 AM, Chuck McCown <ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote: First of all, I have never seen an N connector rated above 11 GHz, and those are extra expensive. If there is an 18 GHz version, it will be even more expensive. This will not be a cable you can make yourself in the field and it will be very sensitive to being fully seated so you will probably have to use a torque wrench to make it work at 18 GHz. Silly. You can weatherproof an SMA just as easy as an N connector. Good heatshrink can be found for both. Folks trying to use N connectors at 18 GHz are going to quickly get introduced to the world of return loss problems. Von: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] Im Auftrag von Rob Genovesi Gesendet: Donnerstag, 30. Juni 2016 01:32 An: af@afmug.com Betreff: Re: [AFMUG] Convert Andrew Dragonwave dishes to N From Gary-UBNT: "We are working on data sheets right now so hopefully you will get more questions answered shortly. The reason for N connectors relates to demand for higher mechanical robustness and the ability for the connectors to be weather-proof as a stand alone connector (fully weatherproof gaskets and the ability to accept larger diameter jumpers readily). The N connectors we use are rated to 18+ GHz." An active thread on the UBNT forums right now, more available here: http://community.ubnt.com/t5/airFiber/Some-AF11X-details/td-p/1512145 -Rob On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 12:05 PM, Bill Prince <part15...@gmail.com> wrote: I'm looking at all the other AF-nnX radios from UBNT, and they all use SMA connectors. What reason would they have to use N instead of SMA? Seems the SMA connector would have fewer issues at 11 GHz.
