I think the cable came up through a hole in the masthead plate, turned 90 degrees and was held down with a typical wire retainer one would use on cable runs inside a boat. Since I was able to resurrect the connection by fiddling with the female contact, I suspect that's where the problem is. Are you thinking the cable might be cut where it turns? At this point, I'm looking for a field expedient repair assuming that the female connector is faulty. (I know, never assume anything with troubleshooting!) I'm probably not prepared to do very extensive work while hanging at the masthead, but still looking for ideas.