You only need low power iron to attach the
center conductor to the pin, the N connectors
are clamp types. No tools needed.



Chris W wrote:

Luke wrote:

hi Chris,

Welmcome to ham radio, I am sure you will enjoy it
as much as the rest of us have !

Since you are starting out, to solder you just need
the iron, 100-120 watts with chisel tip is just fine,
don't attempt with the lower wattage units, you end
up damaging the coax dielectric and have more problems.

Crimps have their place, but, you will need to buy or
borrow the crimp frame tool along with the correct
dies for the connectors you want to crimp.
This is a lot more expensive then the solder iron.

Be sure to buy and use name brand connectors,
quality is worth the price, you buy it once.
You can get a bag of the cheap ones to practice
with and then use the good Amphenol or other brands.

http://www.amphenolrf.com/products/a...ctions/274.pdf


Actually I plan on going out of my way to avoid UHF connectors. I plan
on doing a fair amount at 400+ mhz and the UHF connectors don't do well
up there. So about the only place I will be using UHF is at the radio
if I can't find a radio with N connectors. My watt meter has N
connectors and so do my antennas. I'm not sure why anyone would want to
use UHF on anything outside. The only way to protect a UHF from the
weather is with some coax wrap but the N has a seal built in, of course
some kind of wrap as additional protection isn't a bad idea either if it
is done right. In some cases I may even replace the UHF connector in
the radio with an N but only if it is an old radio no longer under warranty.

--
Chris W
KE5GIX

Gift Giving Made Easy
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Crimp connectors work just fine when done properly, but I would not use
them on anything above 2M. You will find the compression type fittings
for larger coax and heliax superior to anything else for microwave work.

But most will probably suggest generally a good soldered connector the
best for most apps.

If you have the money, the best iron for soldering coax connectors
would be one such as made by American Beauty..... but very pricey. A hefty
Weller gun will suffice if funds are limited.


Ed K7AAT

Ed wrote:

Crimp connectors work just fine when done properly, but I would not use
them on anything above 2M.

Then why is it that Times Microwave only shows how to put on crimp and
clamp connectors on their cables on their web site. On their larger
cables (LMR 900 and up) they only have clamp connectors.


You will find the compression type fittings
for larger coax and heliax superior to anything else for microwave work.


Like I already mentioned, I think that is all you can put on the LMR 900
and up size coax.

But most will probably suggest generally a good soldered connector the
best for most apps.

If you have the money, the best iron for soldering coax connectors
would be one such as made by American Beauty..... but very pricey.


I found an 150 watt one for $115, that doesn't seem too bad to me if it
is that much better than others.

http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bi...duct/0400-0027

One thing I forgot to mention in my first post, where you have to use a
UHF, it seems that for LMR 400, the only option is solder, I could be
looking in the wrong places, but I haven't seen any crimp or clamp on
UHF connectors for LMR 400 only solder. About the only time I plan on
using anything smaller than LMR 400 is for a jumper to hook my hand held
to the big antenna, for that I am going to get some LMR 240 ultra flex.

--
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

Crimp connectors work just fine when done properly, but I would not
use them on anything above 2M.

Then why is it that Times Microwave only shows how to put on crimp and
clamp connectors on their cables on their web site. On their larger
cables (LMR 900 and up) they only have clamp connectors.

In all honesty, I don't have any real experience on most Times'
Cables..... mostly with Belden and Alpha products, so can't be sure what
connectors Times recommends for their larger RF cables.


If you have the money, the best iron for soldering coax connectors
would be one such as made by American Beauty..... but very pricey.


I found an 150 watt one for $115, that doesn't seem too bad to me if
it is that much better than others.

I think most experienced technicians would agree that the large mass
of the heating element on the American Beauty allows for a better and
quicker solder job, with much less risk of damaging the cable. If you
don't mind spending that money, I'd recommend the one you linked to. I
have one similar to it, and no regrets.


Ed K7AAT

I forgot to bring up resistive soldering, does any one use one of
those? I guess if I get a big iron that will work good. I used a 140
watt gun for the UHF connector I did first, I hear the big irons work
better because of the larger thermal mass, I may try the heat gun trick
too. I have a small heat gun that will get up to 200 and something F or so.

--
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

Yes, the 3/8" chisel tip is great.

100w or higher 700 deg. autotemp weller.
many used on the forsale forums and ebay.

Big difference between a heat sink and heat source !


Chris W wrote:

I forgot to bring up resistive soldering, does any one use one of
those? I guess if I get a big iron that will work good. I used a 140
watt gun for the UHF connector I did first, I hear the big irons work
better because of the larger thermal mass, I may try the heat gun trick
too. I have a small heat gun that will get up to 200 and something F or so.

--
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 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.

You should not dismiss crimp connectors as inferior to soldered
connections. Crimp connectors, properly executed with correct fitting
dies, produce a very good result, they are good electrically, and they
often have superior strength compared to "field serviceable"
connectors (the solder / braid clamp) type.

For my own use, I:
- avoid PL-259 type connectors (that is not to mean UHF);
- prefer N type for thicker cables and all outdoors (whether or not in
the weather);
- on Heliax, prefer the connectors that are sealed by injection of
silicone into the backshell, ambivalent about whether the centre pin
is soldered or spring contact (which are usually cheaper and quicker);
- prefer BNC on thin patch cables and fly leads;
- prefer crimped connectors to "field serviceable" connectors in
indoors applications;
- prefer sealed connectors for all outdoors applications, and question
whether most sealed crimp connectors are actually effective through
life;
- keep a pair of multigrips handy for times when UHF connectors must
be used.

If you are choosing to use LMR cables, you might want to look at
LMR195 (I think) which is dimensionally similar to RG58 and can use
low cost RG58 crimp connectors.

If you use BNC (or TNC for that matter), look at whether the
connectors you buy locate / retain the centre pin independently of the
wire connection.

Owen
--

If a crimp is done properly, its consistently superior to solder, unless
you’re a NASA certified solder person. When I say properly, I mean well
designed connectors with the correct crimp tool and tension. Much of the
cheap, off shore cable assys with crimp connectors are sub standard and
that can give crimp an unwarranted bad name. If you give the same crimp
connectors, tools and instructions to a bunch of hams, you will get
consistent results. Give the same group solder connectors and various
heat implements and the results will vary from excellent to disastrous.
Do you really know what’s inside that PL-259 that you just soldered to a
piece of foam dielectric LMR cable? Did the solder gun turn the foam
into a solid blob of some new kind of plastic inside the connector? Are
you positive the heat didn’t make the center conductor migrate in the
dielectric? Did the solder flow up the braid and make a future failure
point beyond the connector? I participated in assembling an aircraft
wiring harness once (will never do that again) and solder was completely
off limits, only crimp connectors could be used. The reasons for crimp
were consistency in performance, the ability to audit the crimp tools
and people’s lives were at stake if something failed.
Mike


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.

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 vote all 3 crimp it clamp it and solder it.
make a good mechanical connection - then solder it.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Sun, 25 Dec 2005 01:19:59 -0500, "Hal Rosser"
wrote:


I vote all 3 crimp it clamp it and solder it.
make a good mechanical connection - then solder it.

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

Don't forget to add Loctite, spot weld, drop forge, nuclear laser,
explosive forming, refractory conditioning, epoxy, RTV, sixteen
layers of Scotch #33 tape and the Pope's blessing.

Those who are non-Catholics have a problem. :-)

73, Bill W6WRT