[ARC5] Alligator clip leads

[MICHAEL ST ANGELO]

I had the same set of flimsy clip leads. I liked the alligator clips but the wire was junk.

I got rid of the wire and replaced it with quality stranded hookup wire and soldered the wire to the clips. Don't forget to put the boots on the wire before soldering the clip. The wiring harnesses in old desktop computers is a good source of wire.

As an extra precaution against breakage I place heat shrink tubing over the solder connection. The tubing is long enough to stick out of the boot.

Mike N2MS 

>     On Sat, Nov 27, 2021 at 12:56 PM Steve WD8DAS via ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net mailto:arc5 at mailman.qth.net > wrote:
> 
>         > > 
> >         Over the years I've been frustrated by failures of alligator clip leads.  Nothing is worse than thinking the device under test has a problem when in fact it turns out a bad test lead that are the issue.  
> > 
> >         This has only gotten worse in recent years, as most of the commercially-available clip leads have become complete junk:   A few strands of weird metal inside stiff plastic insulation, with cheaply-made alligator clips loosely clamped (not even crimped) on the ends.  
> > 
> >         My old leads are wearing out so a couple weeks ago I bought some new clip leads from a reputable vendor.  They turned out to be the worst ever - half of the leads had no continuity right out of the package.  I tried soldering the wires to the clips but the few strands of wire did not seem to want to take solder - very odd stuff.  I trashed them and went on a search for good test leads.  I first sought good test-lead wire and clips to make my own - the minimum quantity of the wire was  too high.
> > 
> >     > 
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