Soldering the shield (and center conductor in some instances) of a transmission line is unnecessary and a waste of money and time. QUALITY connectors and QUALITY crimps are all that is needed. Soldering the shield only risks unnecessary damage to the transmission line and migration of the center conductor.
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Whose Using RG400 and a Mini Butane Torch
- Thread starter NightThumper
- Start date
if you got good solder and KNOW how to solder there is no damage to insulator.
i will continue to solder all connections. just my way.
Nightthumper, THIS is the best tutorial I have ever seen on how to do good reliable solder installations of PL259 connectors on coax. It was published in On The Air magazine, and I liked it so much that I scanned it to .pdf and hosted it on my site.
here is the link adress one more time:
hope it helps you out, it taught me a thing or two and I've been building coax cables for decades..
enjoy.
here is the link adress one more time:
hope it helps you out, it taught me a thing or two and I've been building coax cables for decades..
enjoy.
you are uneducated. i had a 99% soldering quality at eagle pitcher. if you can beat that by all means carry on. i soldered very delicate things far more delicate than cb and ham radio coax so do educate me im listening.
Pshhh, nobody said you cant solder! I said it is unnecessary. Do you think 20kw, 50kw,100kw or more broadcast stations, cell companies etc are soldering their 4 inch or bigger transmission lines? Of course not. Crimping rf connectors is industry standard high or low power, and if done right is superior to soldering them in both strength and performance. Do your homework on the subject and you will see that its an unnecessary step, period.
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Well, there is a slight difference with them though. Some of those coaxes don't have foam insulator, some do, some have plastic, some don't, some have air cores some are pressurized etc. The main takeaway with "hardline" is just that, it's hard, and withstands being compressed just like a corrugated sewer pipe. Comparing the attachment of a pl259 and the compression sleeve of 1 5/8 hardline is apples and sandwiches different.
I think crimped shields on coax is fine in industry, where it doesn't move. In a cb or ham shack we are always moving coax, testing radios, meters, antennas. Crimp is just okay.
The problem is not the act of crimping but the fact that by it's nature the coax we use is "soft" and flexible. It deflects when you crimp. Eventually the resilience of the jacket and dielectric gives way and the shield gets loose. Especially with movement.
I agree. I used to swear by the amphenol brand connectors, to me. The best PL. 259 on the market was the one from max gain. I've installed about a hundred of them
im not talking about cell towers n huge lines im sayin im soldering my coax n never have trouble or loss. use hot nuff iron tin your wire solder it n get away quick n its ok.
you do it your way i will do it my way
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AND they use COMPLETELY different type of connectors and transmission line too. I know. I spent 22 years in broadcasting. Heliax and hardline (yes they are different) are completely different animals when it comes to installing connectors. FWIW I have been soldering connectors on small cable for over 43 years. The only time I messed up was about 43 years ago when I first started. Since then I have NEVER ruined a connector or cable end from overheating it. Sure crimp is OK but NOTHING wrong with soldering.........if you have the proper skills that is. Some people don't and never will.
Agreed. Most people use too small of an iron when soldering cable connectors. I use a small soldering gun on the centre pin and a MUCH larger gun, an OLD Weller 540D, that has 325 watts on high. Either that or the large tip 80 watt stained glass iron. You need the thermal mass and not just heat to properly solder connectors especially the shield. Either of those two tools works great, gets the job done quickly to avoid overheating, and just comes naturally for someone that has been soldering for longer than a lot of our members have been alive.
Shadetree Mechanic
Delaware Base Station 808
Yes, thermal mass in the tip is needed for bigger connections. The guys at work have turned the irons up all the way and burned the plating off the tips. Drives me nuts, they really need a bigger iron with a bigger tip. A big tip let's you get in and back out before the device has soaked up too much heat. I learned that from the guys here when they helped me replace transistors in my 4pill. I have learned a ton of stuff here, thanks to all!
To answer the original question. I use the AR 400 jumpers, I think all are 3 ft long. I remember liking the Amp connectors also.
As far as the butane torches I just got a couple off of Amazon for burning the trash and I didn't notice the culinary ones. I just did mine with a solder rod.
I want to see a video on using those for soldering coax ends.
As far as the butane torches I just got a couple off of Amazon for burning the trash and I didn't notice the culinary ones. I just did mine with a solder rod.
I want to see a video on using those for soldering coax ends.
FYI - Just want to comment on the DS video. This may not matter to you. It matters to some. He is using his MFJ to make a 1/4 wave jumper, NOT a 1/2 wave jumper. He isn't shorting the cut end. That is why the jumper is 6+' and not 12+'. If you use the coax tools on the Rigexpert, you can make 1/4 or 1/2 wave jumpers without shorting the end.
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