[GreenKeys] Re: Miracles by RF CONNECTIONS...

[Jeffrey D Angus]

Don Robert House wrote:
> HOW SOME EVER>>>>>   Does Joel have equipment that would be able to put my
> connectors on my wire inside of my rubber tubing?
>
> I sit here imagining myself with 22 conductors somehow coded, my 
> connectors, the
> rubber tubing and my Chinese (not so good) soldering station, trying 
> to terminate and
> make 40 plus good connections with my shaking hands and bad eyes. 

A few things on the bench makes this go a LOT smoother.
1. Panavise with the large flat base.   http://www.acradiosupply.com/350.jpg
Either the jaws shown, (which you can reverse to close together) or the 
regular vise head.

2. Magnifying lens on a head band. Or eye loupes.
http://www.closeoutsupply.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/vmwl.jpg
But the Circline fluorescent light magnifier tends to get in the way of 
the soldering iron.

3. If you choose to get a decent soldering iron: Weller WES-51
http://www.acradiosupply.com/wes51.jpg
I've seen them on sale for as little a $99.00
Make sure you get an assortment of tips from 1/16" to 3/16"
And keep a wet sponge, constantly wipe the tip before and after use. Put 
a spot of
solder on it to "wet" it to make it work quicker heating the conector pins.

However, you can "cheat" with the cheap Chinese iron using a regular 
incandescent
light dimmer feeding the soldering iron. Experiment with the temperature 
needed to
melt the solder without the melted solder turning colors or grainy 
looking after a couple
of minutes.

4. A good sharp (and surprisingly cheap) pair of diagonal cutters.
http://studiosoundelectronics.com/170m.jpg
Our local parts store has a bucket full of them at $6 each. Buy several. 
When you mess
it up, it's still good for toenails etc. And it doesn't feel as bad as 
breaking a $28 pair.

5. Needle nose pliers. Expect to pay $15-20 for them (it's worth it.)
http://www.altex.com/Assets/ProductImages/Standard/ln55v.jpg
Make sure you get serrated jaws, NOT smooth.

6. Kester 63/37 RMA rosin core solder 0.031"
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-8476489043850_2025_31421763
NOT 60/40, this stuff doesn't have a plastic (cold solder joint) stage 
between melted
and solid.

7. Rosin Flux RMA (Rosin, mildly activated) And get a plastic need tip 
dispenser.
http://alldav.com/images/medium/kester959T979_2oz_FS_MED.JPG

8. An 8-1/2" x 11" pad of paper. VERY important. Draw a picture of the 
back of
the connectors. Both ends of the cable. Make sure you clearly state 
which end is
which, make, female etc. one TWO separate pieces of paper. Add either 
lines with
arrows or colored pencil dots and assign which color wire goes to which pin.
Double check your work several times before you actually start on the cable.

9. Put a hook in the ceiling over your work bench (and maybe another one 
3-4 feet
away from it. Hang the cable that you want to put the connector on from 
the hook.
Put the connector solder side up in the bench vise.  Strip the cable 
jacket back, then
cut, strip and tin all the wires first. This way if you mess one up, 
yeah, you have to
start over, but you don't have to unsolder any wires first.

10. Pre tin all of the connector pins before trying to solder the wires 
to them.

I'm sure I left something out, and I suspect Randy will be happy to come 
over to my
corner and steal my chips and salsa while he tells me what I left out. ;-)

Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi