|
|
Actually silver has the highest conductivity of all metals, which is
probably why it's used to plate the center conductor of some coax cable;
RG142B for example.
This is true, but it is not the whole story.
Conductance is very important in antenna elements.
But another factor is the intermetallic and oxide at contacts.
If the behavior at the contacts is not strictly ohmic (meaning
that there is a linear relationship between current and voltage),
then intermodulation (IM) distortion is created. By changing a nice
smooth sine wave into something more like a square wave, higher
frequencies are created. This type of distortion degrades transmitter
and receiver effectiveness, and also generates frequencies that
radiate from the connectors and infest other parts... like my fuel
computer for example.
The oxides and sulfides of silver are much more ohmic than the
oxide of nickel. Nickel-plated BNC connectors look nice and shiny,
but they cause much more IM distortion than their silver-plated brethren.
More here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodulation_distortion
|
|