Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
Hi guys,
Could you tell me what sort of wattage a soldering iron needs to have to cope with soldering co-ax into PL509s? TIA -- Cheers DrT ______________________________ We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in our lives; but we can always choose to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb). |
#2
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
Hi guys,
Could you tell me what sort of wattage a soldering iron needs to have to cope with soldering co-ax into PL509s? The PL509 is a vacuum tube... I assume you mean a PL-259 "UHF" connector? They need a good deal of heat delivered, due to the large metal mass. A small iron will heat the connector slowly... by the time you manage to make a solder bond, the cable itself will have been heated up a lot and there can be problems with the dielectric melting. An iron with higher wattage (and/or lots of mass, well heated) can make a quicker job of it and let you make the solder joint more quickly. I've had the best luck with a full-sized Weller soldering iron (the 140/200 watt variety). I think I recall doing one or two with a Weller WTCP iron using a large tip, but it wasn't easy. Butane-fired portable soldering irons are another possibility... some of these can deliver a lot of heat. Another possibility is to hold the connector and cable in place with a clamping arrangement somehow, pre-heat the connector with a hot-air gun (a hair dryer will do) and then finish the job with a smaller-wattage soldering iron. By preheating the connector you reduce its tendency to sink heat away from area that you're trying to solder. There are some alternative PL-259 connectors, which use a crimper and a proper die set rather than soldering. See the discussion at http://www.eham.net/articles/19257 for a look-see. A properly-done crimp can be just as permanent as a solder junction... sometimes better. -- Dave Platt AE6EO Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads! |
#3
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
On Sat, 17 Mar 2012 22:25:00 EDT, just as I was about to take a herb,
(Dave Platt) disturbed my reverie and wrote: The PL509 is a vacuum tube... I assume you mean a PL-259 "UHF" connector? slaps head Of course, you are correct. Thanks for the help, de G4DWV, 4X1LT -- Cheers DrT ______________________________ We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in our lives; but we can always choose to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb). |
#4
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
On 3/17/2012 10:06 PM, DrTeeth wrote:
Hi guys, Could you tell me what sort of wattage a soldering iron needs to have to cope with soldering co-ax into PL509s? I've never had luck with irons: I use a soldering gun. The Weller 140 watt model works OK. If you have the choice, I recommend switching to BNC or N connectors: they're much easier to assemble, and have far less loss. Bill, W1AC -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly) |
#5
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
On Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:10:20 EDT, just as I was about to take a herb,
Bill Horne disturbed my reverie and wrote: I've never had luck with irons: I use a soldering gun. The Weller 140 watt model works OK. Thanks Bill, it is on my shopping list ;-). -- Cheers DrT ______________________________ We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in our lives; but we can always choose to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb). |
#6
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
On Mar 19, 11:10 am, Bill Horne wrote:
If you have the choice, I recommend switching to BNC or N connectors: they're much easier to assemble, and have far less loss. Hadn't thought about the loss perspective. I don't care for the PL-259's tendency to not make good connection on the pin after a few insert cycles and I hear that N connectors are a bit better. But I've not considered BNC, at least for HF work. I use them on VHF/UHF but my power levels are well under 50W and SWR's are all fairly reasonable (under 3:1). Am I safe using BNC at 100W on HF with SWR's in the 5:1 range? What is the breakdown voltage of a BNC connector? -= Bob =- |
#7
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
On Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:15:44 EDT, just as I was about to take a herb,
KC4UAI disturbed my reverie and wrote: But I've not considered BNC, at least for HF work. Though it may be an impure thought, but don't HF commercial rigs all have SO 259s? Are adaptors available? -- Cheers DrT ______________________________ We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in our lives; but we can always choose to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb). |
#8
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
Yes - but the adapters are quite lossy.
|
#9
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
In article Channel Jumper writes:
DrTeeth;788676 Wrote: But I've not considered BNC, at least for HF work. Though it may be an impure thought, but don't HF commercial rigs all have SO 259s? Are adapters available? -- Cheers Yes - but the adapters are quite lossy. Actually, I have not found significant loss in any of these adapters I have used. If they had much loss, they would get warm (or hot) when transmitting, and none I have used do. Alan |
#10
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]() |
Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Urge President 0baMa0 to Enforce ALL Immigration Laws! | Shortwave | |||
Congressmen Urge FCC: Include HD Radio Satellite Radio Merger | Shortwave | |||
IBOC forces KSL-AM to drop decades-old tradition. | Broadcasting | |||
No progress in decades... | Homebrew | |||
No progress in decades... | Antenna |