I am new in ham radio and want to get set up to make the coax assemblies
I will inevitably be needing in the future. I am planing on using only
LMR style coax 240, 400, 600 and maybe some 900 if I get into the 1.2ghz
stuff. So is it better to use the crimp, clamp or solder on
connectors. In the case of the center conductor, there are some where
that is solder and the outer is crimp or clamp so is crimp and or clamp
ok for the outer conductor and solder better for the inner? I welcome
all points of view on this. Thanks for you input.


--
Chris W
KE5GIX

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Chris,
Solder.
'Doc

"'Doc" bravely wrote to "All" (23 Dec 05 11:22:03)
--- on the heady topic of " Crimp, Clamp or Solder?"

'D From: 'Doc
'D Xref: core-easynews rec.radio.amateur.antenna:221739



'D Chris,
'D Solder.
'D 'Doc

Spot weld.
Makes great thermocouple joints.

A*s*i*m*o*v

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 01:05:36 -0600, Chris W wrote:

I am new in ham radio and want to get set up to make the coax assemblies
I will inevitably be needing in the future. I am planing on using only
LMR style coax 240, 400, 600 and maybe some 900 if I get into the 1.2ghz
stuff. So is it better to use the crimp, clamp or solder on
connectors. In the case of the center conductor, there are some where
that is solder and the outer is crimp or clamp so is crimp and or clamp
ok for the outer conductor and solder better for the inner? I welcome
all points of view on this. Thanks for you input.

As Doc said, solder.

Get a Weller SP-120 soldering iron. It's 120 watts. About $46. You can
typically find it by Googling.

You'll need that kind of heat to solder coax connector outer shells to
the braid. Get the ARRL Handbook, and look at their pages on soldering
coax connectors.

Bob
k5qwg

"Bob Miller" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 01:05:36 -0600, Chris W wrote:

I am new in ham radio and want to get set up to make the coax assemblies
I will inevitably be needing in the future. I am planing on using only
LMR style coax 240, 400, 600 and maybe some 900 if I get into the 1.2ghz
stuff. So is it better to use the crimp, clamp or solder on
connectors. In the case of the center conductor, there are some where
that is solder and the outer is crimp or clamp so is crimp and or clamp
ok for the outer conductor and solder better for the inner? I welcome
all points of view on this. Thanks for you input.

As Doc said, solder.

Get a Weller SP-120 soldering iron. It's 120 watts. About $46. You can
typically find it by Googling.

You'll need that kind of heat to solder coax connector outer shells to
the braid. Get the ARRL Handbook, and look at their pages on soldering
coax connectors.

Bob
k5qwg

A ~200W soldering gun from Radio Shack or Home Depot will also work fine.

Tam/WB2TT

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:14:19 -0500, "Tam/WB2TT"
wrote:

A ~200W soldering gun from Radio Shack or Home Depot will also work fine.

Tam/WB2TT


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's my preference too. Weller makes a 250 watt gun that works great
for PL-259s. Heats up in a few seconds, unlike an iron, and cools down
quickly. Be sure you get the 250 watt version, not the 125 watt.

73, Bill W6WRT

Get a Weller SP-120 soldering iron. It's 120 watts. About $46. You can
typically find it by Googling.
A ~200W soldering gun from Radio Shack or Home Depot will also work fine.

Tam/WB2TT

I'm a cheapskate who uses a soldering gun about as often as I make new
coax lines. (It happens, but I don't spend much time at it.) If you
have a Harbor Freight tool store near you, they have a 180 watt gun you
can usually catch on sale for 6.99. Not as good as a Weller, I'm sure
but so far the solder hasn't noticed.

73
Kip W6KIP

In article ,
Bob Miller wrote:

Get a Weller SP-120 soldering iron. It's 120 watts. About $46. You can
typically find it by Googling.

You'll need that kind of heat to solder coax connector outer shells to
the braid. Get the ARRL Handbook, and look at their pages on soldering
coax connectors.

Another trick: it's usually possible to solder the outer shells into
place with a lower-wattage gun, if you first pre-heat the whole
assembly with a hot air gun (hair dryer might work). This can be
gentler on the coax (and its meltable internal insulation) than just
hitting the shell with a soldering iron and waiting for the shell to
soak up enough heat to allow the solder to melt.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

Bob Miller wrote:

As Doc said, solder.

Get a Weller SP-120 soldering iron. It's 120 watts. About $46. You can
typically find it by Googling.


Thanks for the suggestion on the iron, I found it for $40 which isn't
too bad.

You'll need that kind of heat to solder coax connector outer shells to
the braid. Get the ARRL Handbook, and look at their pages on soldering
coax connectors.


I guess the book you are talking about isn't the antenna book, I can't
find much on soldering in there.

--
Chris W
KE5GIX

Gift Giving Made Easy
Get the gifts you want &
give the gifts they want
One stop wish list for any gift,
from anywhere, for any occasion!
http://thewishzone.com

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:01:08 -0600, Chris W wrote:

Bob Miller wrote:

As Doc said, solder.

Get a Weller SP-120 soldering iron. It's 120 watts. About $46. You can
typically find it by Googling.


Thanks for the suggestion on the iron, I found it for $40 which isn't
too bad.

You'll need that kind of heat to solder coax connector outer shells to
the braid. Get the ARRL Handbook, and look at their pages on soldering
coax connectors.


I guess the book you are talking about isn't the antenna book, I can't
find much on soldering in there.

If you have the ARRL Antenna Book (I have the 19th edition) page 24-21
talks about PL-259 assembly, and explains how to prepare the coax and
solder it to the connector. This is in the chapter labled
"Transmission Lines" if you have another edition of the book.

bob
k5qwg