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Solder?
- Thread starter Eastside
- Start date
When a solder alloy is described as Duster said "60/40", the first number is the percentage of tin and the second is the percentage of lead.
Yeah, lead. Don't even think about using the lead-free junk, and don't use an alloy that's less than 60% tin. The "best" dual alloy is probably 63/37. That's called "eutectic" solder, meaning that it has the lowest melting point of any alloy of those two metals. It also has no "plastic range", which means less chance of a joint moving while the solder is solidifying. Which means fewer cold solder joints.
You may find some solders with three numbers, like "60/37/3". Generally, the 3% would be silver...and expensive, but better.
Diameter? Your call. I use 63/37 at 0.05" and a really massive-tipped iron for doing PL-259s.
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Would that be consider a medium or large diameter solder?
I am putting new coax cable on my moonraker 4 and bought 300ft of colman rg-213.....no ends....so I have to solder ends on it....always bought cable with ends.....I hope I can put them on right because I have to pay someone with a bucket truck that will reach 60ft to take the old off and put the new on.
Not all PL connectors are made equal. The best ones are silver plated and will take solder very easily, and are also the most expensive. They also have teflon insulators which adds to that cost. About ~$5 each, but I prefer them.
The cheap PL connectors -like Radio Shack/Tandy- are nickel plated and will resist taking solder. You can still make them work. All you need to do is use a Dremel tool or a file and nick enough of the surface past the plating until you find the yummy brass underneath. That will take the solder quite well.
I use a 250w soldering GUN when doing connectors. Since there is a lot of surface area on connectors, a small watt soldering iron won't have enough heat to get the job done quickly and neatly. So, having enough heat -like a 250w gun supplies rapidly- will make soldering PL connectors a breeze, so long as you have prepped everything correctly first.
Prepping the coax correctly can be found online, or someone else can cover that here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1nabA6yMoI
The cheap PL connectors -like Radio Shack/Tandy- are nickel plated and will resist taking solder. You can still make them work. All you need to do is use a Dremel tool or a file and nick enough of the surface past the plating until you find the yummy brass underneath. That will take the solder quite well.
I use a 250w soldering GUN when doing connectors. Since there is a lot of surface area on connectors, a small watt soldering iron won't have enough heat to get the job done quickly and neatly. So, having enough heat -like a 250w gun supplies rapidly- will make soldering PL connectors a breeze, so long as you have prepped everything correctly first.
Prepping the coax correctly can be found online, or someone else can cover that here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1nabA6yMoI
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They prolly are the inexpensive pl-259s.....amphenol is engraved on them.....thanks for the video....I have looked at a few of the tutorials on yt.
snake dr gave me some of the real skinny solder that I have been using for wiring mics etc....I got to like it....it would melt quick and harden quick.....but I did not know what it was....he just left a loop of it here.
snake dr gave me some of the real skinny solder that I have been using for wiring mics etc....I got to like it....it would melt quick and harden quick.....but I did not know what it was....he just left a loop of it here.
Amphenol makes both inexpensive and expensive PLs, gotta look at the part number, unless you're familiar with what the Teflon and silver plating are supposed to look like.
No...its not the thick gauge metal pl-259s like the ones made back in the 60s/70s.
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Your...right.
The mast pipe goes up 10ft above the tower so you cannot do it by climbing the tower...and no one wants to go to all the work of taking the rotor plate and rotor out and sliding the mast down....so my only alternative is a bucket truck.
Tell me about it. My mast will extend about 16-17 feet above the top of the tower and will support multiple yagis. I have devised a way to clamp the mast in place using two thrust bearings,remove the rotator, and then jacking the mast down after loosening the bearings while either removing one antenna at a time or loosening the mounts and nesting them together at the top.Putting everything on the mast will be MUCH easier than taking them off as each antenna gets mounted and simply goes up with the mast as it is jacked up. Once everything is in place I lock the thrust bearing clamps, remove the mast jack pipe and install the rotator. Total weight of the mast and antennas.....about 200 pounds. Piece of cake. :headbang
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It would be considered a solder having a diameter of 0.05" - I don't think there's an industry standard defining solder by large/medium/small.
It would be considered a solder having a diameter of 0.05" - I don't think there's an industry standard defining solder by large/medium/small.
Ha ha...the solder snake dr gave me was about the size of a d string on a guitar.