Names of things:
Doesn’t matter if it’s the male or female. Turns out, they’re the same basic shape but one does not have a pin, and the other is upside down.
The female on the core, obviously, does not have a pin. The base is the top of the hex nut. The “plastic” is that gold socket in the center. The base dictates how far down you can screw the whip.
Top to base - 4.16mm
Top to plastic - 2.03mm
Plastic to base - 2.13mm
Core’s whip has a pin, plastic, and a top (shown above).
Top to plastic - 4.22mm
Top to tip of pin - 1.92mm
Pin length - 2.30mm
That gives us about .21mm of pin insertion with floppy antenna on the core.
Datacenter halow
DC female does not have a pin. Base is a soft rubber seal. “Plastic” is the little gold socket in the center. The rubber seal dictates how far down you can screw the whip.
Top to base - 4.72mm
Top to plastic - 2.03mm
Plastic to base - 2.69mm
DC whip has a pin, plastic, and a top, per the diagram.
Top to plastic - 3.58mm
Top to pin - 1.20mm
Pin length - 2.38mm
Insert length is 1.49mm
Looks like the Top-to-plastic on the Core Whip, and Top-to-Tip-of-pin is what’s costing us that 1mm on the core. The plastic on the DC whip is much more shallow. It core’s pin DOES connect, but could connect more better. If I were to guess, the 1.5mm hex nut holding the core’s female might be related, since that is the “base” in this setup. It is probably eating about half a mm of our pin. For yucks, I’ll remove that nut, later, and see if signal improves.
I am, however, probably wrong. Completely. It’s confusing enough that I tossed it into CAD to verify the math, lol. And I’m still probably wrong.
One way or the other, we’ll find out in our next installment!