[Elecraft] OT: Crimped PL-259s, recommendations?

[Hall, Nathon]

I suspect that the 'crimped vs. soldered' thread will be shut down shortly, but here are my professional observations:

SDI-HD video is one of the most critical applications of coax cable in my job. We would *never* trust this signal to a soldered connector; they're all crimped. Yes, this is a slightly different cable than what we normally use in ham radio, but the extreme bandwidth of SDI-HD is a good test for any termination system. In radio cables outdoor or in high-vibration environments I will usually solder the centre pin of a crimp connector if a hole is provided to do so. This step is optional, but gives me a good feeling.

I have a range of crimping tools available to me: costing $25 - $1000+. I would trust all of them with cables and connectors intended for ham radio.

Soldering a PL-259 is something every ham should attempt at least once; sort of a rite of passage. After that, purchase a crimp tool and don't look back.

--
Nathon Hall   VE7ETS
SOTA VE7 (British Columbia) Association Manager
hall at cotr.bc.ca