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User’s Guide 5964-7333 6
Care and Maintenance
To obtain optimum performance from RF cables, observe these precautions:
• Flex and straighten the cables as little and seldom as possible.
• Make connections carefully to avoid misalignment, connector damage, or inaccurate
measurements.
• Keep the connectors free of dirt and metallic particles by periodic inspection and cleaning.
CAUTION
Cotton swabs may leave fibers on the connector that can cause inaccurate
measurement results.
• When you clean the connectors, apply clean compressed air or nitrogen. Do not use
abrasives. With a foam-tipped plastic swab, apply isopropyl alcohol to clean the connector
surfaces.
• Type-N (male) outer conductor shoulder, dielectric recession, or center conductor step
should be 0.208 inch minimum.
Visual Inspection
Visual inspection and, if necessary, cleaning should be done every time a connection is made.
Metal particles from the connector threads may fall onto the mating plane surface of the
connector when it is disconnected. One connection made with a dirty or damaged connector
can damage both connectors beyond repair.
Magnification is helpful when inspecting connectors, but it is not required and may actually
be misleading. Defects and damage that cannot be seen without magnification generally have
no effect on electrical or mechanical performance. Magnification is of great use in analyzing
the nature and cause of the damage and in cleaning connectors, but it is not required for
inspection. Use the following guidelines when evaluating the integrity of a connector.
Look for Obvious Defects and Damage First
Examine the connector first for obvious defects and damage: badly worn plating on the
connector interface, deformed threads, or bent, broken, or misaligned center conductors.
Connector nuts should move smoothly and be free of burrs, loose metal particles, and rough
spots.
What Causes Connector Wear? Connector wear is caused by connecting and disconnecting
the cable. The more use a connector gets, the faster it wears and degrades. The wear is greatly
accelerated when connectors are not kept clean, or are connected incorrectly.
Connector wear eventually degrades performance of the cable. Replace cables with worn
connectors.
The test port connectors on the network analyzer test set may have many connections each
day, and are therefore also subject to wear. It is recommended that an adapter be used as a
test port saver to minimize the wear on the test set’s test port connectors.