this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2026
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Over the years I've made a great many coax leads, the bulk of which were Quad Shield RG6 terminated with F-tyoe compression fittings.
Even with such high volume of manufacturing, 75Ω satellite connections, the variation was so high that it was hit and miss to have a good day or not when you terminated these whilst standing on a roof next to a satellite dish.
In that time, I learnt that it's cheaper and safer to pay for factory terminated coax.
Ditto with UTP and RJ45.
I still have all the tools, but will really only use them for emergencies.
I respect that others want to terminate their own leads, but it's rare that I have such an urge. There's still plenty of coax and UTP lying in my garage, but I'm pretty sure that it will outlive me.
Completely different attachment method designed for consumer applications - meanwhile aerospace uses crimp connectors precisely for their repeatability.
If you get a nanovna you have all the tools you need to prove your cable assemblies are to spec. (And, at the same time, there is no real guarantee preassembled cables are done properly - I’ve seen utter rubbish SMAs with wrong dimensions or stamped pins, cables with steel or aluminum conductors instead of copper or with almost no shield, and substandard assembly techniques used.)
Known-good preassembled cables can’t be obtained from Aliexpress or Amazon, and the cost of quality vendors makes improving my own craft worth it!