Thanks to all. ?Much appreciated. You guys are really good! I thought I would offer up a little background as to why I asked the question in the first place. I have a few FT-818nd radios. It remains my favorite even though I have other more modern and more expensive radios like Elecraft and Icom. I decided to setup one of my radios in an ARMOLOQ Pack Frame. The radio in the ARMOLOQ Frame is placed inside a PRC-117 Bag with a Bioenno 3AH battery underneath. The Windcamp Battery has also been added and the power connector adapted to use the PowerPole Connector. I relocated all the connections (CW; SO-239; RJ-45) ?to the front. In this setup the radio is best use in a ?"vertical" operation. I asked the question about antenna ports because with the ARMOLOQ setup you cannot use a right angle adapter on the front BNC Connector because the "cage" is in the way. Therefore you can't lay the radio on its side to operate. As a result some folks relocate the Front BNC also so that it is off the radio and on the cage. In that way you can use a right angle adapter. It is a bit clunky because the relocation cable is in the way of the front of the radio. I tried a BNC to BNC Jumper and was getting drop outs and more static. I determined the cable was the problem. If you use the heavy duty cable from ARMOLOQ it cannot be routed to the rear and out of the what so I switched to a less robust jumper cable. That cable was the problem. After this experience it occurred to me that this was a wasted effort to try and relocate the front BNC because when I relocated the SO-239 to the front I terminated it in a BNC Connector so the it would be compatible with the RG-316 cable I use for portable ops. Problem solved. If I want to use the radio lying on its side then use the relocated SO-239 with a right angle adapter and call it good. The lingering question in my mind was whether or not there was a material difference between the two ports and thanks to you guys the answer is not really. ?Thanks again for all the help. Great group... great radio!
