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Gauging and Making Connections
Visual Inspection
Inspecting Slotless Connectors
When using slotless connectors like the 3.5 mm or type-N 50 Ω female
connectors, pay special attention to the female center conductor contact
fingers. These are easily bent or broken, and damage to them is not
always easy to see. A connector with damaged contact fingers will not
make good electrical contact and must be replaced.
This is particularly important when you are mating nonprecision to
NOTE
precision devices.
Checking for Connector Wear
Connector wear eventually degrades performance. The more use a
connector gets, the faster it wears and degrades. This is especially true
with electrically characterized devices such as ECal modules. The wear
is greatly accelerated when connectors are not kept clean, or are
connected incorrectly. Test port connectors on the VNA test set may
have many connections each day, and are therefore subject to more
wear. It is recommended that you use an adapter as a test-port saver to
minimize the wear on the test set's test port connectors. Replace all
worn connectors.
Chapter 3
3-7
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