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#1
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Crimp Tool Suggestions?
Looking for suggestions for a good crimp tool for installing coax
connectors. It will primarily for BNC connectors on RG-174, 58 and 59 cables. Although the RG-8 cable family capability would be nice too. I do wish to avoid being a captive customer in that brand X crimp tool only works well with brand X connectors. And, of course, looking for the best bang for the buck. Thanks, Danny |
#3
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Crimp Tool Suggestions?
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee wrote:
In article , (known to some as Danny Richardson) scribed... Looking for suggestions for a good crimp tool for installing coax connectors. It will primarily for BNC connectors on RG-174, 58 and 59 cables. Although the RG-8 cable family capability would be nice too. I do wish to avoid being a captive customer in that brand X crimp tool only works well with brand X connectors. And, of course, looking for the best bang for the buck. My take is that the best possible bang for the buck, as it were, may be had by searching Greed-bay for a surplus mil-spec hex crimper, such as the Daniels Manufacturing HX-4. This particular tool has interchangeable dies to accommodate a wide variety of coaxial connectors, as well as insulated terminal lugs. They will tend to be more expensive, even at the surplus level, than your typical made-in-taiwan Paladin (or whoever) crimper, but the Daniels tools will also be of a much higher quality. Properly cared for, they may outlast their owner. As some examples: Item #120044919904 is for a new HX-4 frame, in its original box, with a Y193 die set, opening bid of $79. Considering that the frame alone new, from Daniels, is nearly $280, that's quite a bargain. Granted, the Y193 die set won't be useful to you unless you're crimping contact assemblies for the D-sub coax/regular combo connectors, but it should not be hard to find appropriate die sets for whatever connectors you want to work with. A full description of the HX-4, and a listing of common dies for it, may be found at this link: ============================================ Crimping might be appropriate for a large volume of coax connectors. However for a limited number of connectors as applicable to domestic amateur radio a gland type of cable entry seems more to the point. BNC- , PL259- and N-connectors are all available with braid sleeve inserts which highly likely give a better (long term) braid/connector connection than a crimped arrangement at least for RF ,especially when used in an outdoor environment. I do have a short lead with 2 PL259 connectors with both centre pin and body crimped to RG58 coax which probably originates from the 'CB trade' .The braid crimp is not a hexagon but cylindrical with side ridges, like -O- . I would never want to make up leads this way myself. Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH |
#4
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Crimp Tool Suggestions?
Hi,
Ideal makes good quality crip tools and accessory dies for just about anything hams will need. http://www.idealindustries.com/index.htm regards, crimp tool dude |
#5
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Crimp Tool Suggestions?
In article ,
(known to some as Highland Ham) scribed... snippety Granted, the Y193 die set won't be useful to you unless you're crimping contact assemblies for the D-sub coax/regular combo connectors, but it should not be hard to find appropriate die sets for whatever connectors you want to work with. A full description of the HX-4, and a listing of common dies for it, may be found at this link: ============================================ Crimping might be appropriate for a large volume of coax connectors. However for a limited number of connectors as applicable to domestic amateur radio a gland type of cable entry seems more to the point. BNC- , PL259- and N-connectors are all available with braid sleeve inserts which highly likely give a better (long term) braid/connector connection than a crimped arrangement at least for RF ,especially when used in an outdoor environment. I would be prepared to debate this. A properly-done crimp connection, made with high-quality connectors (I'm talking Amphenol RF or King) and done with a high-grade crimper will be gas-tight. If you enclose the whole thing in the sealant-lined heat-shrink tubing after you've made up and tested the cable, there's no reason it won't do just as well as a gland type. And, with crimping, you stand a much lower chance of heat damage to the insulation. ;-) I do have a short lead with 2 PL259 connectors with both centre pin and body crimped to RG58 coax which probably originates from the 'CB trade' .The braid crimp is not a hexagon but cylindrical with side ridges, like -O- . I would never want to make up leads this way myself. I absolutely agree. That's why I suggested the Daniels crimper. Its dies are all hexagon style, per mil specs. Keep the peace(es). -- Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute (Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR) http://www.bluefeathertech.com -- kyrrin a/t bluefeathertech d-o=t calm "Salvadore Dali's computer has surreal ports..." |
#6
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Crimp Tool Suggestions?
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee wrote:
I would be prepared to debate this. A properly-done crimp connection, made with high-quality connectors (I'm talking Amphenol RF or King) and done with a high-grade crimper will be gas-tight. If you enclose the whole thing in the sealant-lined heat-shrink tubing after you've made up and tested the cable, there's no reason it won't do just as well as a gland type. I keep reading that crimp connections are more reliable than clamp type, but my experience sure runs contrary to that conclusion. I have a sizable quantity of patch and longer RG-58 cables with crimped BNC connectors. Most are from the Tektronix surplus outlet, but some from other industrial sources. All were presumably made by skilled people with the proper equipment, and they were manufactured over a long period of time. Yet on many cables, the outer insulation has pulled out from under the crimp, leaving bare shield. Besides an obvious entry point for water if used outside, the shield wires begin breaking from flexing against the hard crimp connector end. In contrast, I've never had a failure of cables I've made myself with crimp type connectors, although some have gotten very severe and prolonged use. I imagine that adding sealant-type heat shrink tubing would delay the onset of the insulation migration problem and reduce shield breakage after it occurs. But that's an extra step not required for clamp-type connectors. In addition, some "precision" cables made with double-shielded cable were very RF-leaky at the connectors, a problem I solved by replacing the crimp connectors with clamp type. So I have what I've read on the one hand, and what I've experienced on the other. The only conclusion I can reach is that it must be a lot more difficult to "properly" assemble a crimp connector than most people realize. I figure that if the pros have so much trouble doing it right, I don't have a chance. I'll stick with clamp type. My feeling is that the reason that crimp connectors have become so popular doesn't have anything to do with reliability but simply that they're faster to assemble and therefore cheaper. And, with crimping, you stand a much lower chance of heat damage to the insulation. ;-) The only heat involved with clamp type connectors is in soldering the center pin. Hopefully most people can manage that -- I've never had a problem, anyway. Roy Lewallen, W7EL |
#7
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Crimp Tool Suggestions?
Correction:
Roy Lewallen wrote: . . against the hard crimp connector end. In contrast, I've never had a failure of cables I've made myself with crimp type connectors, although some have gotten very severe and prolonged use. . . That last sentence should read ". . .with *clamp* type connectors. . ." I've never made a crimp type myself. Roy Lewallen, W7EL |
#8
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Crimp Tool Suggestions?
I just purchased a crimp tool and dies for RG8/213 from Davis RF... It
was eighty some dollars for the tool, two sets of dies, and a carry case.. I have a bunch of cabling to make for the station revisions in progress... This was a whim decision and I will post my thoughts after I use it a bit... denny / k8do |
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