[TowerTalk] Some advice about crimp ;type coax connectors

[Ian White]

Don W7WLL wrote:
>Which brings a question to mind. Why is there not available for sale a
>decent battery powered soldering iron. Sure would be nice when in the
air
>not to be tied to an AC power cord. I did a search (probably not very
deep)
>and found some battery powered irons but nothing that would deal with a
>few
>UHF connectors out and away from the 'house'. A friend from Australia
who
>was in the 2-way radio business had a couple he brought when he
>immigrated
>from Oz but I've been unable to find that they are made anymore.
>

Ah yes - the amazing, alarming 'Scope' soldering iron. Designed to
operate directly from a car battery, the heating element was a small
slug of carbon which could be pushed forward inside the barrel to make
direct contact with the rear of the copper tip. Temperature control
could best be summarized as: "When the tip starts to glow red, that
means she's too hot, Mate!" but the heat output was prodigious. 

Soldering anything connected to the car itself could also be an
interesting experience, as the voltage drop in the cable meant that the
tip wasn't at the same potential as the car body. 

Spares for the old black-handled Scope still seem to be available on
eBay, but the price for a complete unit is very high which may indicate
that it isn't actually being manufactured any more.


73 from Ian GM3SEK