[Elecraft] OT: Installing PL-259's

[Ken G Kopp]

I've given hundreds of talks over the years on this subject as
part of an over-all talk on wire antennas....

Here's suggestions ...

Use --only-- silver-plated connectors with silver-plated shells.

Tin the braid and then treat it as if it was a piece of tubing and
cut it to length with a small tubing cutter.  Leave about a 1/16"
portion of the center dielectric protruding from the braid when
the dielectric is removed from the center conductor. There's
a recess in the center pin's insulation to accept this protrusion.

Use a taper reamer to enlarge the four solder holes in the body
of the connector as much as possible.  The holes will then be
the diameter of the U-shaped area in the connector body, making
soldering iron contact with the previously tinned braid much easier.

This is a good place to remember to put the shell of the connector
on the coax ... in the correct direction. (;-)

The threads inside the connector are for screwing the connector
onto the outer jacket of the cable and ---not--- for screwing reducers
for RG-58 or RG-59 into the connector.  That's an incidental came-
later feature.  Note that the threads inside the connector are "square"
to prevent cutting into the outer jacket of the cable.  Hint:  A tiny touch
of silicone grease on the outside of the jacket will help ... the ribbed
front portion of the connector is for finger gripping ... or perhaps a
small assist with slip-joint pliers.

There is a correct way to handle RG-58 and RG-59 reducers and
solder them correctly.

73!

Ken Kopp - K0PP
kengkopp at gmail.com