Abuse in the home...

[joeqsmith]

I remember seeing some pretty bad examples on Microwaves 101 several years ago.   Checked out their site and looks like a few more have been added.  Attached two I thought were pretty good. 

Do you toss them all loose into a box and dig through them when you need one?   Use a torque wrench?  Touch them with your grubby fingers?  Refuse to toss out a bad connector?   

[jjoonathan]

Signal integrity, bitches!

I should have taken a picture after one probe became two and I had to start using kapton tape on account of the scotch tape running out, but this is bad enough as it stands.

[Assafl]

Used to but toss 'em out now at first sign of fraying.

If the smart man avoids costly mistakes and the clever one learns from his - I guess I am only clever and learnt to discard from a development kit I ruined and - Ahem - a really expensive hydrophone logger killed by fat probing. And I can now afford to keep a stock of spare connectors and probes (to avoid temptation)...

[LPaul]

Probably the most informative video from the signal path:

the first half is about how not to mistreat microwave connectors :p.

I wonder how you can just throw expensive connectors in a box...

[joeqsmith]

I like how he jabs that sharp metal screw driver into everything. 

[Brumby]

A whiff of RF voodoo .....


Nice.