[SFDXA] Connectors, Installation, Bury-Flex, etc., DAVIS RF

[Bill M]

Very informative post from another Reflector. 
Bill W2CQ

> First, thanks to several responses today and yesterday ref. Bury-Flex and our connectors.  I am a cable design engineer of specialty and custom control, monitoring, RF, etc. cables. 
> Bury-Flex is a highly lauded/effective low loss buriable cable that I designed around 15 years ago for not only the ham market, but use by Lockheed Martin, FAA and NASA (in their Cape Can. ground station). I use a specialized PE outer jacket that is impervious to UV, water, and certain chemicals (I also use that same jacket for control cable that we supply to a septic flow meter company, thus it is submerged in septage to connect with the submerged  in  "crap"  water flow meters.  I sometimes refer to that cable as our " Shxtty Cable"  HI
> 
> As the late Press Jones , bless his heart , once said,  "imitation is the best form of flattery"…. Bury Flex ™ has been imitated by at least several entities.  
> 
> Connector comments:  Yes, I agree completely , and so do marine electronics engineers, that electronic installations, can be completely effective using crimp connectors for the braid, but as several pointed out here, despite high quality crimp connectors, the procedure is to solder the center conductor.
> 
> Ref. soldering connectors shields of Bury-Flex ™ to male UHF connectors (aka PL 259's):  Somewhat often I see the comment, as I did today, that the second/aluminum shield makes it difficult to solder the shield to the PL 259 .  Please keep in mind that you can cut that alum. shield back , just a fraction of an inch to just expose the braid shield (which on Bury-Flex ™ is tinned to both make it easier to solder, and to make if more resistant to copper oxidation  (which should not occur if you seal the connector to the cable properly…another subject).   By cutting back the Alum. shield, you are not degrading the shielding effectiveness because that whole portion of the cable itself is inside the connector body which in and of itself is a 100% shield.   So, "forget" the aluminum and you will not need a high wattage iron or gun.  Hope that helps
> 
> As an aside:  connectors:  Nickel plate vs. Silver plate.  First, ANY connector outside needs to have properly sealed covering ,  over the connector and back onto at least an inch of the cable. Even N connectors that have "weatherproof seals" need to be water proofed (vs. "weather or moisture proof)    Secondly , if not water proofed, a silver plated connector , will conduct through the silver oxide that will form, whereas Nickel oxide will not conduct.
> 
> The comment ref Heat Shrink:  Yes, this is one of several options to water proof connectors to cable. But please note that heat shrink (HS) comes in several types.  THe type you want to use is 
> "adhesive lined" HS.   Heat it, from center to the right end, then to the left end, uniformly shrink onto the cable and connector and then watch for just the slight beginning of a clear "ooze" that is seen coming out each end of the HS. This is the adhesive. 
> 
> If you use any type of waterproofing, where the connector front end attaches to a female connector (any type female UHF, N, etc), you need to be sure that the
> exposed threads on the female are completely engulfed, waterproofed, by whatever waterproofing material you are using, HS or water pressure resistant tape. 
> 
> Crimp vs. Solder:  Ok , yes, this topic has been revisited numerous times on TTAlk over the many years.   This is just my opinion based on a lot of use of both methods over many years and seeing  the need for solid quality crimp connectors for use  field installations where electric irons, or butane irons are not used, or in the bilge of a boat, or up on the tower:  a quality crimp connector, properly installed with a proper install tool, is as good as any quality solder-on connector, from both a mechanical and electrical standpoint. And in fact, how many times do you see (as in this recent posting) or yourself feel, that soldering is not one's best skill, or ability to tolerate the process.   
> Just my opinion and I don't think it necessary to open up a whole reiteration of this subject, as all that pro and con is in the TT archives….. :=)
> 
> Lastly,  Steve, L7LXC, has ok'd the following:  Three years ago I set up a totally separate co.: separate staff, location, and no financial relationship with DAVIS RF, that sells many types of 
> rope for numerous applications, to include all of the commonly used sizes for wire antennas, mast supports, certain tower supports , as well as a special 1/2" rope for gin poles, with a tensile strength of 7500 lbs.  Other ropes for towing, marine, anchoring, hoisting/pulling, sail shades, etc..  All Made in USA and you will not find these high quality ropes at lower prices anywhere (except perhaps based on a fire sale).  DAVIS ROPE AND CABLE ASSEMBLY Co. , LLC    website:  DavisRopeAndCable.com     (the cable assembly refers only to  cable assembly work that we do, only for commercial entities.  Our other co., DAVIS RF, will do ham cable assemblies based on Milspec procedures, and the labor cost will be higher than most other ham assembly co's.)
> 
> Back to the rope co.: We provide free application consultation.  You tell us what you are doing, the approx. lengths and load factor (we can usually figure the load factor for you, with your details provided). 
> As with our affiliate DAVIS RF,  the rope company has been very successful and adheres tightly to our devotion, as many of you know, to Customer Satisfaction, quality product and price effectiveness. 
> 
> Feel free to contact me directly with any questions about products or product technical aspects, FOR EITHER of our two companies.  If contacting me for specs, technical or pricing, probably best to contact me directly vs. using bandwidth on this T Talk website.   Tnx guys  !!  
> 
> 73, Cheers,  Steve Davis,  K1PEK   
> 
> sdavis at DavisRF.com
> 
>    Direct to me:  978 369 1738:  6 Days Mon-Sat. by phone, 0900 - 2100  EST,     Sundays:  refreshing my sanity, tnx, but emails welcome, answered occasionally on Sun, or by Monday.
>