PL 259 coax connector

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Brian.D

That is so weird. I have never in my time working on HF antennas, VHF antenna, satellite antennas, 75Ω and 50Ω system, have never heard of a "twist-on" connector. Compression connector, yes. But twist-on? Interesting.

Thanks

We had them for Ethernet networks long ago… 75Ohms impedance iirc.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Brian.D

That is so weird. I have never in my time working on HF antennas, VHF antenna, satellite antennas, 75Ω and 50Ω system, have never heard of a "twist-on" connector. Compression connector, yes. But twist-on? Interesting.

Thanks

I recall having spent hours of fun in the lab determining that the previous week's irreproducible results were caused by a twist-on BNC connector.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

We had them for Ethernet networks long ago… 75Ohms impedance iirc.

The 10base2 era. We called it Cheapernet, because it was less expensive than the 10base5 systems (which used either N connectors or vampire contacts). Unreliable and hard to work with. Sort of like Hollerith cards, only without the retro charm.

[OldAlaskanSalt]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Me neither.


But it's a lost art, and there are better alternatives today for people who don't already have the old skills.


I can write 6502 assembler code, and iron cotton shirts with a sad iron, and know how to replace the crankshaft bearings and seals on a Chevy small block. But I don't encourage young people to learn any of these things. They belong in the Foxfire Books or something.

I grew up soldering Heathkits, so don't have a problem with soldering connectors. At least the battery powered irons these days are a lot smaller and lighter.



I do want a good number of our kids to be mechanics, electricians, and builders. Every contractor I know is looking for building trades employees. And every operating system has a kernel written in the assembler for that processor.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by OldAlaskanSalt

And every operating system has a kernel written in the assembler for that processor.

Which ones? The Windows, OS X, and Linux kernels are all written predominantly in C with a relatively trivial amount of assembler, and in some cases with some C++.

[Lake-Effect]

... wow, we are really off into the weeds now.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Which ones? The Windows, OS X, and Linux kernels are all written predominantly in C with a relatively trivial amount of assembler, and in some cases with some C++.

Even C compilers are written in C

[Tetepare]

OK, so I've had enough fight with the VHF connection to discard my embarrassment and throw it out to the world. I'm an engineer but haven't worked w/ coax and no amount of research or reading has made this pl259 thing clear to me.

When they launched the boat they tore the male end off the coax. I need to put one back on. Simple? Apparently not for me.

The female end is still attached to the coax, which goes up to the antenna. This should be OK.

The old male connector, shown disassembled and w/ stub of copper sticking out.

The replacement connector, which despite what the Amazon said I think is a solder connector....looking for confirmation/ correcting. I have tried several of these and no matter what I do with the tool, it doesn't crimp. And the open male end makes me think solder goes in there.

The tool. How hard can this be? I can strip wire with a wire stripper, knife or my teeth. No matter what I do with this stupid tool, it either doesn't strip the insulation, or strips the wiring.

I appreciate info to get this friggin' coax connected.

[Bobby Lex]

You can learn just about anything on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoZZ-hkeTTA

Bob

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

OK, so I've had enough fight with the VHF connection to discard my embarrassment and throw it out to the world. I'm an engineer but haven't worked w/ coax and no amount of research or reading has made this pl259 thing clear to me.

When they launched the boat they tore the male end off the coax. I need to put one back on. Simple? Apparently not for me.

The female end is still attached to the coax, which goes up to the antenna. This should be OK.

The old male connector, shown disassembled and w/ stub of copper sticking out.

The replacement connector, which despite what the Amazon said I think is a solder connector....looking for confirmation/ correcting. I have tried several of these and no matter what I do with the tool, it doesn't crimp. And the open male end makes me think solder goes in there.

The tool. How hard can this be? I can strip wire with a wire stripper, knife or my teeth. No matter what I do with this stupid tool, it either doesn't strip the insulation, or strips the wiring.

I appreciate info to get this friggin' coax connected.

I posted my usual process back in the thread.

Could you post more pix or a link to the connector you're working with? Also, it's unclear whether your main issue is stripping or crimping.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

OK, so I've had enough fight with the VHF connection to discard my embarrassment and throw it out to the world. I'm an engineer but haven't worked w/ coax and no amount of research or reading has made this pl259 thing clear to me.

When they launched the boat they tore the male end off the coax. I need to put one back on. Simple? Apparently not for me.

The female end is still attached to the coax, which goes up to the antenna. This should be OK.

The old male connector, shown disassembled and w/ stub of copper sticking out.

The replacement connector, which despite what the Amazon said I think is a solder connector....looking for confirmation/ correcting. I have tried several of these and no matter what I do with the tool, it doesn't crimp. And the open male end makes me think solder goes in there.

The tool. How hard can this be? I can strip wire with a wire stripper, knife or my teeth. No matter what I do with this stupid tool, it either doesn't strip the insulation, or strips the wiring.

I appreciate info to get this friggin' coax connected.

The unused connector shown requires the inner (centre) conductor to be soldered and the outer conductor (shield) to be crimped.

The tool shown is a crimping tool only. It is not a stripping tool.

[Tetepare]

ETA the tool has a separate stripper

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

ETA the tool has a separate stripper

Many coax stripping tools perform poorly unless carefully adjusted for the cable in question.

Often a sharp knife, good eyes and steady hands work better.

[team karst]

Stop by. I will demo, plus the use of a antenna analyzer to check overall performance.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Wotname

The unused connector shown requires the inner (centre) conductor to be soldered and the outer conductor (shield) to be crimped.

The tool shown is a crimping tool only. It is not a stripping tool.

This.

It's actually not a bad system. The center conductor is easy and forgiving to solder. You crimp the shield, which is the best way, as soldering the shield is difficult.