[TowerTalk] One more question on PL-259s

[Dan Hearn]

Bill: I have found that the center pin solder job works best if the wire OD
is a tight fit to the ID of the pin. I use a small piece of buss wire
inserted into the pin to fill any air space. My best results have been when
the short piece of buss wire is bent into a U shape or even a W shape. It
should have to be forced into the opening. You can leave a long end on the
wire sticking out while the soldering takes place and then cut it flush.
This is particularly effective when the coax conductor is small like RG58,
etc.
73, Dan, N5AR

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Bill Turner
Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 8:43 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] One more question on PL-259s


I must have soldered hundreds of these nasty little things over the
years and it just occurred to me there might be a better way to do the
center conductor.

I have always trimmed the center conductor so it was flush with the
end of the center pin and then soldered it. This works reasonably
well, but I've had some well-soldered pins eventually break free from
the center conductor due to vibration and flexing.

It occurred to me that it might actually be a stronger connection if I
cut the center conductor short by about 1/8 inch so it was down inside
the center pin and then flowed the solder down to it. That way, the
solder would have the entire face of the cut end of the cable to bond
to and should be a bit stronger I would think.

Just some idle thoughts on a cool evening in the desert while watching
the moon rise.

Comments?

Bill, W6WRT

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