Custos Custodum wrote:
Brian Reay wrote in :

Ralph Mowery wrote:

wrote in message
...
In rec.radio.amateur.antenna gareth
wrote:
What's the solution to soldering through to the underlying braid in
a PL259
if the only
soldering iron small enough to engage the holes is a low-power
jobbie?

Buy or borrow tools appropriate to the task.


That is the way to do it. Get a big soldering iron that will really
put the heat to it. I have used a Weller soldering gun in the past,
but now use a 100 watt iron. I bought a used one at a hamfest. I
think you can get some at the Hobby Lobby store if in the US. They
sell them to people that make things out of leaded glass sort of like
the old church windows.


An old Solon, ex BT, iron is ideal, I think they are about 50W but the
key thing is they have a decent sized bit. That means a good thermal
mass to get the plug up to temp. quickly.

Mine was 65W, IIRC. Haven't seen it for a while; I think it's out in the
garage. And yes, they are polarised. I can remember holding and staring
at something I was about to solder and reaching out for the iron without
looking. Picked it up by the wrong end. You only do that once!




While I have certainly suffered my share of soldering iron burns, I don't
recall grabbing one by the wrong end- probably due to always using a stand
or holder, at least since the days of replacing my Remploy iron which I was
given when I was about 11. If you don't know the Remploy, it had a
triangular section on the handle which kept the hot end clear of the bench.
I regret no longer having the Remploy.

The ex-BT iron came with an insulated clip on pot-like holder. I was told
these were designed to clip to the old telephone exchange racks.