[TowerTalk] Soldering in the mobile environment. K0FF

[K0FF]

FYI soldering when mobile/portable.

There are several methods of soldering in the field that I have tried over
the years.

Weller makes a 12VDC soldering iron that's about 40 Watts and has alligator
clips for connection to a car battery. I keep one in my tool kit, with a
lighter plug. This Wattage is fine for most connections except it's too
small for PL259.

Black and Decker and Weller both make soldering irons that operate from
propane, using a catalytic converter ( not a flame per se). I find these to
be very useful for small tower jobs, or any time I'm totally away from an
electric source, but again, too small for a PL259.

The very best method is an AC inverter and the 'ol standby 350 Watt Weller
soldering gun. This large gun makes perfect PL259's even in a stiff breeze.
Inverters are available inexpensively these days and have many other uses in
the mobile/portable (I use a 200W unit to drive a small TV rotor for the 3
el 6M van mounted beam!). The 200 Watt inverter is rated for much more on
surge, and seems to do fine on the 350W gun for short runs.

As always pick a good solder. After using up literally hundreds of pounds of
tin-lead over the decades, ,my personal favorite remains the Ersin 5 core,
plain old 60/40. It gives a solid, predictable joint every time. Use the
.040 size for PC boards and small connections and the .048 for connectors
etc. (yes I know about Eutectic, 63/37 and water soluble flux etc. etc.)

73 and good Roving, George..K0FF




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