[TowerTalk] PL259 Connectors Part 2

Thu May 12 00:21:54 EDT 2016

When soldering PL259s, I cut the jacket the required distance back. I 
then slid the jacket to be removed forward, but not completely off the 
braid.  This kept the braid flat against the dielectric. Once that braid 
was tinned with minimal solder I slid the jacket off.  I trimmed the 
braid back a little from the end of the dielectric, or about to the end 
of where it was tinned if I did it right. Minimal tinning means you 
don't need to file the solder down and being tight to the dielectric 
keeps the impedance correct to that point.  It also minimizes heat 
damage to the dielectric.  If all went well to this point, the connector 
should screw over the jacket. with just enough braid exposed in the 
holes that it can be soldered to the connector.  I prefer a small, but 
relatively hot tip to make the solder joint quickly.

I have not seen a foam dielectric that was not easily damaged by too 
much heat. CNT-240, RG-8X, LMR 400 & 600, BuryFlex. 9913F, etc.
The trick is to get the barrel hot enough to melt the solder around the 
hole, but not hot enough all over to damage the dielectric.

With only one working hand I can no longer do this, but I had gone to 
crimp connectors prior to losing the use of my left hand.  It is getting 
back to where I can hold the solder between my thumb and forefinger with 
my left hand, if I can rest the hand on something solid.

I still much prefer the crimp type and as industry has gone to crimp, I 
have trouble understanding why so many hams continue to use the solder type.

A good, properly adjusted stripper and crimp connectors produce 
consistent and strong connections much quicker than soldering and 
require far less skill.  Yes, there is a learning curve, but it's 
neither steep nor long.

73

Roger (K8RI)

   .   i On 5/11/2016 Wednesday 10:23 PM, Bob K6UJ wrote:
> Tim,
>
> I tried this method and and after a couple of tries I think I have 
> mastered it.
> Please bear with me, hihi.
> I trimmed the braid slightly over 1/8" away from the end of the 
> connector shell and then fanned out
> and folded the braid back over the end of the shell.  Then soldered 
> the braid to the end of the
> connector shell.  The soldering only takes up 1/8" at the end of the 
> connector.  My first attempts
> had the soldering to the braid too far up on the connector and I 
> couldn't unscrew the connector barrel enough.
> That's why I am now using the 1/8" trim.
> The pictures of the last steps showing the soldering of the braid to 
> the shell could be clearer. :-)
> I use shrink tubing and slide it over the soldered joint just enough 
> to insure I can unscrew the connector barrel
> and it looks great.   I like this process, no over heating the 
> dielectric as you said, no question about a good
> soldered connection to the shell,  and super strong.
> I have a hunch that others that may have tried it didn't like the look 
> of the finished result.  Yes the soldered
> joint to the shell is there for god and everyone to see :-) but if the 
> shield strands are trimmed equally before
> soldering and then the connector and coax junction is either taped or 
> shrink tube is used (one of which is a good
> idea to do) then it is a great PL-259 connection and looks pretty too 
> hihi.
>
> 73,
> Bob
> K6UJ
>
>
>
> On 5/11/16 6:27 PM, Tim Duffy wrote:
>> Hello Jim:
>>
>> As you reported - W3LPL and K3LR (and many others) are using this method
>> with the Amphenol 83-1SP of soldering the shield on the back of the
>> connector. It works great.
>>
>> http://www.k3lr.com/engineering/pl259/
>>
>>
>> No melted dielectric and very visible great soldered connection of the
>> shield. No failures here at the K3LR multi multi station in over 30 
>> years -
>> and the contest station success efforts - show good results.
>>
>> Hope to see you in Dayton
>>
>> 73
>> Tim K3LR
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf 
>> Of Jim
>> Brown
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 8:05 PM
>> To: towertalk at contesting.com
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] PL259 Connectors Part 2
>>
>> On Tue,5/10/2016 4:48 PM, Kevin Stover wrote:
>>> I tried to pull one off a waste piece of coax. Connector clamped in my
>>> bench vise and two guys pulling on the coax.
>>> Didn't budge. Try that with the soldered connector.
>> A properly installed soldered Amphenol 83-1SP makes a pretty strong
>> connection to the coax. "Properly installed" includes stripping just
>> enough braid so that it shows through the solder holes and so that the
>> coax jacket screws into the connector shell, soldering the braid at each
>> hole so that it flows well, and doing a good soldering job on the center
>> conductor. Many times, I've had to yank pretty hard on the RG11 attached
>> to high dipoles to guide them away from tree limbs, etc. So far, I've
>> never had one pull apart.
>>
>> K3LR has developed a method of soldering the braid to the OUTSIDE of the
>> connector shell and covering it with heat shrink. That's probably even
>> stronger!  I've done that with a few connectors, but wasn't thrilled
>> with the result. QST published it a few years ago, and I think it's
>> somewhere on the internet.
>>
>> 73, Jim K9YC
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-- 

73

Roger (K8RI)

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