robert casey wrote:

Extra credit if they can do it without melting the
dielectric insulation of the coax. More points if they
can get the solder to actually flow onto the connector body
where the shield solder holes are located (helps if you
use a small file to remove the plating first).
And more points if they remember to put the shell on the
cable in the correct direction before doing any soldering ;-)


I used to tin the braid then use a small tubing cutter to trim the
shield to the right length. I used a drill to remove the plating from
the holes and file all the chrome off between the holes. I tinned the
center conductor and put a drop of liquid RMA flux on the center
conductor and the braid before I put the coax into the plug, then
soldered all four holes and the center pin. I didn't melt the
dielectric, and you couldn't pull the coax out of the plug. I also used
my Sprague TO-6 to put a couple hundred volts across the cable to make
sure there were no loose strands waiting to short out. I had Hams and
CBers tell me my cables were too expensive but they kept coming back to
buy more to replace other bad cables, and they started sending other
people to me, as well.

I had someone bring me a cable he bought somewhere else. He said it
was "Kind of lossy" No wonder. It was a dead short at one end. He
didn't want two new plugs so i walked out the door to my truck and
raised the hood. I touched the center pin of one plug and the sleeve of
the other plug across the battery. Smoke and flames came out of one
plug. A true "Quick & Dirty" test that never fails to find the shorted
plug.

--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
robert casey wrote:


I used to tin the braid then use a small tubing cutter to trim the
shield to the right length. I used a drill to remove the plating from
the holes and file all the chrome off between the holes. I tinned the
center conductor and put a drop of liquid RMA flux on the center
conductor and the braid before I put the coax into the plug, then
soldered all four holes and the center pin. I didn't melt the
dielectric, and you couldn't pull the coax out of the plug.

That's a hell of a lot of messing about and time consuming too. A crimp on
PL259 for RG58 series or RG213 series cables would take about 2 minutes to
install, no soldering, no chance of heat damage, no shorts and they can be
fitted in the field.

Brad.

Brad wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
robert casey wrote:


I used to tin the braid then use a small tubing cutter to trim
the
shield to the right length. I used a drill to remove the plating
from
the holes and file all the chrome off between the holes. I tinned
the
center conductor and put a drop of liquid RMA flux on the center
conductor and the braid before I put the coax into the plug, then
soldered all four holes and the center pin. I didn't melt the
dielectric, and you couldn't pull the coax out of the plug.

That's a hell of a lot of messing about and time consuming too. A
crimp on
PL259 for RG58 series or RG213 series cables would take about 2
minutes to
install, no soldering, no chance of heat damage, no shorts and they
can be
fitted in the field.

Brad.

Solderless connectors for RF applications? A quick fix for sure but not
a lasting one! The only crimped connector I've ever seen work is the
cable TV connectors and the center conductor us used directly.

Hey Mike, Don't rule all Hams. I will agree that most look down their
noses and anyone with a lesser class of ticket and none at all is even
worse but there are some that are helpful and knowledgeable in their
field. I would guess that most hams don't know sqat anymore. Store
bought radios and cables and antennas really are the problem here.
Everyone operates and yaks about the weather and their latest hemmroid
attack but no one know how to fix a broken radio. Heck, I even saw a
post from a Canadian Ham that wanted some one to align his Heath stuff,
How easy can you get and yet he can't do it or won't even learn how to
do it.

My mentor in the 60's in Ham radio is now long dead but when that man
taught you something it stuck and we built some of the most God awful
transmitters and regen receivers but they worked and the knowledge
stuck.
His motto was "Why buy it when you can build it" and he built
everything he used on the air too. People looked down on him too as he
held a Conditional class back then.

noyk in Ocala

"Da udder one ya dont know" wrote in
message oups.com...

Solderless connectors for RF applications? A quick fix for sure but not
a lasting one! The only crimped connector I've ever seen work is the
cable TV connectors and the center conductor us used directly.

Crimp on RF connectors have been used for decades, BNC, TNC and N
connectors, good to 1.5GHz, UHF connectors to 500MHz. Used in most avionic
and military applications. (many of the connectors have a mil p/n) The crimp
forms a cold weld which is better than solder and more reliable considering
that the crimp tools are calibrated.

http://www.radiall.com/vdocportal/po...egoryId=382831

Download the BNC catalog, go to Page 12 for a sample of BNC crimp on
connectors. The UHF's are similar.

Brad.

"Brad" wrote in message
...

"Da udder one ya dont know" wrote in
message oups.com...

Solderless connectors for RF applications? A quick fix for sure but not
a lasting one! The only crimped connector I've ever seen work is the
cable TV connectors and the center conductor us used directly.

Crimp on RF connectors have been used for decades, BNC, TNC and N
connectors, good to 1.5GHz, UHF connectors to 500MHz. Used in most avionic
and military applications. (many of the connectors have a mil p/n) The
crimp forms a cold weld which is better than solder and more reliable
considering that the crimp tools are calibrated.

http://www.radiall.com/vdocportal/po...egoryId=382831

Download the BNC catalog, go to Page 12 for a sample of BNC crimp on
connectors. The UHF's are similar.

Brad.

Unfortunately too many of the installations are sub par. When I have
purchased antennas that came with crimp on connectors, such as many mobile
antennas, I've had to replace the connector in under a year.


Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

In rec.radio.amateur.misc Da udder one ya dont know wrote:
Solderless connectors for RF applications? A quick fix for sure but not
a lasting one! The only crimped connector I've ever seen work is the
cable TV connectors and the center conductor us used directly.

Some would argue that SO-239/PL-259s are not RF connectors (I/F possibly
and DC for sure)...
--
Chris Cox, N0UK/G4JEC NIC Handle: CC345
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

see sea oh ecks at you aitch see dot comm wrote:

Some would argue that SO-239/PL-259s are not RF connectors (I/F possibly
and DC for sure)...
--
Chris Cox, N0UK/G4JEC


They are not constant impedance connectors, but they were designed
for RF. Look at what they replaced. ;-)

--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Brad" wrote in message
...

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
robert casey wrote:


I used to tin the braid then use a small tubing cutter to trim the
shield to the right length. I used a drill to remove the plating from
the holes and file all the chrome off between the holes. I tinned the
center conductor and put a drop of liquid RMA flux on the center
conductor and the braid before I put the coax into the plug, then
soldered all four holes and the center pin. I didn't melt the
dielectric, and you couldn't pull the coax out of the plug.

That's a hell of a lot of messing about and time consuming too. A crimp on
PL259 for RG58 series or RG213 series cables would take about 2 minutes to
install, no soldering, no chance of heat damage, no shorts and they can be
fitted in the field.

Brad.

As with anything else, there are both advantages and disadvantages. The
crimp on ones seem to be more prone to having a shorter life. Why, I don't
know.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

Dee Flint wrote:

"Brad" wrote in message
...

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
robert casey wrote:


I used to tin the braid then use a small tubing cutter to trim the
shield to the right length. I used a drill to remove the plating from
the holes and file all the chrome off between the holes. I tinned the
center conductor and put a drop of liquid RMA flux on the center
conductor and the braid before I put the coax into the plug, then
soldered all four holes and the center pin. I didn't melt the
dielectric, and you couldn't pull the coax out of the plug.

That's a hell of a lot of messing about and time consuming too. A crimp on
PL259 for RG58 series or RG213 series cables would take about 2 minutes to
install, no soldering, no chance of heat damage, no shorts and they can be
fitted in the field.

Brad.

As with anything else, there are both advantages and disadvantages. The
crimp on ones seem to be more prone to having a shorter life. Why, I don't
know.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

Dee, I have worked in broadcast and manufacturing. 95% of the failed
RF connectors I've seen were crimped. I've never had a soldered PL259
come off after I started using the described method. The assemblers at
Microdyne were required to put completed crimped cables into a fixture
that applied the manufacturer's specified tension on each crimped
connector. Most of the SMA we used were still soldered, either on flex
or semi-rigid cable. In 30 years I have only seen a few cracked solder
joints on semirigid, and that was on N" connectors in Collins 4 GHz
Satellite TV receivers. Over half of the units I repaired for United
Video Cablevision had bad solder work on the RF input connectors.

I was at a hamfest a few years ago and bought a box full of PL259
connectors that were cut off bad cables. I used needle nose to pull the
insulation out and held the shell over a propane torch a few seconds and
dropped it on the bench to remove the loose stands and old solder.
After they had cooled I did the center pins that way. No damage to any
of them and all were nicely tinned for re-use.
--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Brad wrote:

That's a hell of a lot of messing about and time consuming too. A crimp on
PL259 for RG58 series or RG213 series cables would take about 2 minutes to
install, no soldering, no chance of heat damage, no shorts and they can be
fitted in the field.


I didn't make the cables one at a time. I would make dozens and it
went very fast because I did it like a small assembly line. Not only
that but people paid about $3 per connector I installed than anyone else
in the area wanted. I could make about a dozen cables in an hour, back
when I was in the RF business. I didn't make, or use RG58 cables. Only
RG-8 or 213. I have to find the right connectors for the teflon coax I
have in the shop. I think its two spools of RG-179 and a spool of
RG-400

Who says you can't get a shorted cable with crimp connectors? I've
seen plenty of shorted cables with crimped connectors.


--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida