[R-390] Filter Repair

[Roy Morgan]

On Jun 12, 2013, at 7:59 AM, quartz55 <quartz55 at hughes.net> wrote:

> …  The foam PE from the hardline is adequate, but it's really hard to work with. 

Suggestion:

Arrange two blocks of wood bolted together with two (or more) holes drilled through the place the blocks come together, differing in the amount they overlap the joint.  The holes are the same size as the hardline or coax insulating foam (after the outer jacket and/or braid have been removed).  Sandwich a razor blade or utility knife blade across the hole and draw the wire through the hole to shave off a layer of the foam.  You'll have a more or less thin strip of insulation foam that may well be easier to work with.

(It might be easier to use a woodworkers plane set for a coarse cut to shave off the strips while laying the coax center foam/conductor on a flat surface.)

A similar tool can be made to score the outer jacket of flexible coax for easily stripping as part of recovering the outer braid for use in grounding your radios or towers, or in making RF connections in a band crusher linear amplifier.  The tip of the razor blade or knife blade pokes into the hole just enough to score the outer jacket and not cut the underlying braid.

A flattened piece of medium or large coax braid would do a much better job of conducting RF than the largest wire you may have on hand.  Form a hole for mounting hardware at the ends of the braid, then solder-soak the tips to form a good connection. Silver plated coax braid as found in mil-spec coax would be the best.

One company that advertises on the QRZ site makes solid copper strapping that is good for such jobs, also.  ( http://www.gacopper.com/  )

Roy

Roy Morgan
k1lky at earthlink.net
K1LKY Since 1958 - Keep 'em Glowing!