Dielectrice Grease

[NI7I]

I seldom fly my tower or my ships at high altitude.

In 1942, moisture in aircraft engines and the formation of corona discharge from aircraft electrical systems at high altitudes made high-altitude flight all but impossible.
Dr. Shailer Bass developed Dow Corning's first product, a simple silicone grease (Dow Corning #4 Compound) that solved the problem.
http://www.dowcorning.com/applicatio...t.aspx?R=402EN

Dow Corning was formally established in 1943 specifically to explore the potential of silicones.
Dow Corning emerged from bankruptcy in 2004, after the silicon breast implant lawsuits.

[W0BTU]

BTW the N types have their own issues ...

I agree. The main beef I have with Ns (at least the Ns I've seen) is the small area of contact between the center conductor contacts. It's about the same as a BNC (although many a BNC has been run at the legal limit). There was a thread here discussing this last year. I forget what all was said about it, but I believe something was said about reduced power handling capability --along with somewhat reduced reliability-- compared to a UHF connector. But I'm told that there are better Ns out there, if you know what to order.

Before the captivated-contact style N connector was developed, the coax center conductor on long cable runs would shrink in very cold weather, and actually pull the center pin out, resulting in infinite SWR.

And it seems to me that over-tightening an N could jam the shoulder into the four female contacts and bend them.

In any case, for frequencies over 200 MHz, an N is certainly preferred over a UHF.

[W0BTU]

In 1942, moisture in aircraft engines and the formation of corona discharge from aircraft electrical systems at high altitudes made high-altitude flight all but impossible.
Dr. Shailer Bass developed Dow Corning's first product, a simple silicone grease (Dow Corning #4 Compound) that solved the problem.

Great story, Greg! I didn't know that.