Hello Jay,
You cannot say enough bad concerning nickel plated stuff. I'm unfortunate
enough to have one nickel plated audio plug. I've probably resoldered half
a dozen times (no decent iron to do it and I've got to replace the dang
thing). Unfortunately, Rat Shack doesn't carry much anymore (and that is
where I got that miserable plug in the first place!) and since manufacturing
has gone offshore, the last of the surplus places shut down last December.
Sigh. Internet Express, I guess
N connectors were a lot nicer
73 from Rochester, NY
Jim
"Jay in the Mojave" wrote in message
umnetworking...
Hello Steve:
I will share with you what I know and my experiences.
Soldering the PL-259 Connectors is not an easy task, it takes some
practice.
Yes you will a 100 watt iron or the heavy duty soldering gun 250 watts or
more. And plug it in and let get hot for around 5 to 10 minutes.
I use the Silver plated PL-259 Connectors well worth the extra cost to
allow for a quick and easy solder job. The nickel plated PL-259 connectors
I don't use, but in a bind I will use a Chain Saw small round file to open
up the 4 soldering holes and expose the brass that is much easier to
solder to. Trying to solder to the nickel plating is dog ****. And will
get the PL-259 Connector tooooo toooo HOT!
Be sure that the coax center and shield wires are shiny and clean from
dirt and oil. DO NOT try to solder them if these wires are corroded or
dingy looking, a good indication the coax may have gotten water in it. You
might have to cut back the coax a foot or two to get to shiny copper
looking wires. If after cutting the coax back a foot or two and shield
wire is still looking not shiny I say get new coax. Or very easily scrape
off the none shiny coating off the coax wires.
I Tin the center wire of the Coax, or give it a quick lite application of
solder, then with a exzato knife I scrape the center wire of any left over
solder, allowing it to fit inside the PL-259 center pin.
There are many places on the net here that will show how the PL-259 should
be soldered and how the coax should be stripped.
The important thing to remember is that you need to practice doing
soldering the PL-259 connectors. Its ok to get too much heat on the
connector at first, but you want to be able to get on the PL-259 connector
with the coax and connector being held in a vice and make the solder job
of one of the holes and then get off. I also have a wet paper towel to
cool the PL-259 connector if I get too hot.
I file a small notch into the soldering iron tip to allow a small part of
the soldering iron tip to go inside the soldering holes of the PL-259
connector. This is a big help when you want to get on the connector solder
it, and get off right away. Coaxes like LMR 400 have a really light weight
dielectric material between the center and shield wire that is easy to get
too hot have a short in the coax. So being able to get on, solder, and get
the soldering iron off the PL-259 connector is important.
I plan on putting a video on the web site showing how to solder the PL-259
connectors.
Here's a few web sites for ya....
http://www.seed-solutions.com/gregor...SolderCoax.htm
http://www.hcarc.us/articles/solderi...connectors.htm
http://www.mgs4u.com/Connector-PL-259-guide.pdf
Jay in the Mojave