[NLRS] Fwd: LMR400 and N connectors

[Stephen Hicks, N5AC]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stephen Hicks, N5AC <n5ac at n5ac.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 10:09
Subject: Re: [NLRS] LMR400 and N connectors
To: David Palm <thepalmhq at gmail.com>


I do not believe you should buy a stripping tool.  I use a knife that you
can get at Home Depot ./ Lowes.  They take the trapezodial blades that are
very cheap and look a little like a regular flat utility knife. I prefer
these to the larger fatter grey ones.  Mine came in a pack of 5 for $15-20.
I place the coax on the floor and pick up one end so it is pointing at the
ceiling.  I drive the knife into the coax through the jacket, shield, foam
etc down to the center conductor and then I walk around the coax.  I then
pull everything straight off the center conductor in one pull (it will be
rotating freely at this point).  This needs to leave about 1/4" of center
conductor.  Walking around keeps me "level" ie making a straight edge and
also keeps me from wrestling the coax.

Then I do the same thing 1/2" or so (I figure the distance by holding the
connector to the coax and eyeballing it) but just through the outside black
insulator.

I can do this maneuver in less than 30 seconds and it's very easy after
you've done a few.

I swear by one of these knives and I have bought them for all my ham buddies
that are hands-on.  They are about $5-10 each and a box of 100 blades is $20
or something.  If it won't slice my finger off, I replace the blade hihi.
 Best knife I've ever owned and my friends feel the same.
 A replaceable blade that is SHARP is the key.  I just smile when my friends
pull out their fancy pocket knives that are typically fairly dull....
"That's not a knife!"

73,
Steve

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephen Hicks, N5AC, AAR6AM    EM13qc
469-576-7488 cell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sent from Austin, Texas, United States

On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 09:38, David Palm <thepalmhq at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks Steve.  It looks like I'm going to just have to bite the bullet and
> spring for a crimping tool.
>
> Do you think that the separate stripping tool is worth the extra cost?
>
> Thanks and 73,
>
> David
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 9:04 AM, Stephen Hicks, N5AC <n5ac at n5ac.com>wrote:
>
>> I FAR prefer the crimp connectors.  Incidentally I generally solder the
>> center pin but I buy the silver/gold connectors from Coaxwarehouse on eBay
>> (no affiliation) and bought a crimp tool (I think from the same guy).  I am
>> NEVER going back.  They are so easy to use and so fast and they work great.
>>  When working on a project and someone needs jumpers, I say "how many"
>> instead of "ohhh yuk."
>> 73,
>> Steve
>>
>>
>> Sent from Austin, Texas, United States
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 08:48, David Palm <thepalmhq at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> In preparation for this weekend I was able to get my newly built 222 and
>>> 432
>>> quagis up 8 and 10 feet in the air last night and apply some RF to them.
>>> Thanks to Todd, KC9BQA, for helping me test them on the air.  We were
>>> able
>>> to make the path on both bands, although 432 was extremely light.  I was
>>> shooting straight into the foliage of a large pine tree, so that may have
>>> made a difference.
>>>
>>> My real question concerns N connectors.  I was scrambling to get two new
>>> feedlines ready yesterday afternoon and, to my dismay, the pins on some
>>> surplus N connectors that I had laying around are too small for the
>>> center
>>> conductor of the LMR400.  And I can't really just file it down a bit
>>> since
>>> it's copper-coated aluminum and it can't be soldered once it's been
>>> reduced
>>> in size.  So, am I correct that I will need to buy special Ns for the
>>> LMR400?
>>>
>>> On that same note, I was planning on just going with the solder-pin
>>> style.
>>> But I have heard a number of people advocate strongly for the crimp-style
>>> connectors.  I'd rather avoid the cost of the crimping tool, but I wonder
>>> if
>>> anybody has some feedback on that question.
>>>
>>> Thanks and 73,
>>>
>>> David  W9HQ
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>>
>>
>