THAT SHOULD DO IT//New Turnbuckles, Cameras & VHF-Episode 115

[@shawnchurch316]

I have probably installed 5000 pl259 connectors throughout the past 20 years and I have developed a lot of tricks when assembling connectors. I never tin the ground before installing a connector and I highly doubt your soldering iron has the wattage to properly solder the connector. The vast majority of modern connectors are poorly made junk. I run 5000+ watts through my coax so I must have good connections or I can damage equipment or end up with rf burns. The old 259 connectors were solid silver and I buy them up whenever I find them on ebay or at estate sales or I will even harvest them from old pieces of coax cable. For cable I pretty much only use times microwave lmr 400 through lmr 1200 and once in a while I use Andrew Heliax. If the connectors only have 2 solder holes for the ground I drill 2 additional holes and I like to chamfer all the holes before soldering. I only introduce solder through one hole and I know when it is properly soldered when all 4 holes are full of solder. I have never once made a bad connection in all my years. I normally use a hakko fx-971 soldering station and I use silver bearing solder for the connections which really adds to the heat requirement. Once the cable is ran and assembled you should terminate one end with a test resistor and verify that you are getting proper ohms at the other end of the cable. When you solder the solder is draw towards the heat so I heat one side of the connector and feed solder from the other end so it flows completely through the connector. Once everything is installed it is not a bad idea to use a spectrum analyzer to verify proper operation.

[@bernardpeters1856]

"Where are you going? You're going nowhere!! LOL

[@DuffyF56]

You install PL 259 connectors differently than I do it. I comb out the shield into individual strands. and lay it back surrounding outer insulation further back the cable then slide the connector over it. Also clean everything with alcohol. Flux used on electronics is heat activated and the residue is corrosive leading to a poor reliability solder joint over time if not cleaned off. Use a rosin cored solder the best being eutectic solder which is 63/37 and has no plastic temperature range so it solidifies immediately when heat is removed. Good quality coaxial cable has shield made from pre-tinned strands.

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

There are critiquing comments already. I'll add, job well done. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@paratyshow]

👍☑ sooooo close yet soooooooo far. Always one more thing! Tks guys

[@-TruthHurts]

damn, you guys left us with a cliffhanger... i was kinda looking forward to the marriage 😥

[@hansstoop5381]

Very, very informative... thanks!

[@MichaelrennieG]

you and Brian of Delos are amazing, you two should go into a business together of course with your amazing families

[@georgemacdonald8899]

Might be kind of interesting to put a sensor pack on the top of the mast, a QT-py esp32 with wifi can easily hook up to a variety of sensors(temp, pressure, humidity, 6DOF motion sensing, compass,...). I was thinking it would be uber cool to develop a docking platform that a multi-copter could dock to, and/or put a sensor pack on. Perhaps one day even a little robot could be air lifted so that you could do some mast top work from the deck.

[@raytheriault7438]

FYI….that connector for your antenna is called a PL259. You should have left about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of insulator on the center wire above the braid used as the ground on the cable. I’ve been doing radio work for 40 plus years and fear that yours is going to eventually short.

[@459SuperX]

You definitely should get a Milwaukee sponsorship. I bought the M12 rivet tool after I saw yours. The M12 line has tons of useful tools.

[@peggykm4977]

One inch closer to your dream of getting to the Bahamas and beyond..... hang in there, it WILL happen eventually and life is what happens while you are making plans. Hope the Boat Show in Miami was a good experience and you made some good contacts there because traffic to get there is a nightmare! :)

[@billsrq1788]

Hello from Siesta Key Florida

[@greatpix]

You might want to check out some of the soldering stations ($50 on up)) that have variable temps with digital readout. The variable temp feature is handy especially when working around circuit boards and insulated wire.

[@Mechone11]

Old school try a TS100 microprocessor soldering iron to temp in seconds goes into sleep mode too.Can plug directly into boat 12v dc or 120 vac

[@rockcityfpv9117]

I use "flushish" all the time.

[@boomerbits2297]

As a ham radio guy, I have put hundreds of PL 259s on coax but if you only do it once every few years, it can be a challenge! Good example, you did good! I always test for shorts before and after I solder though. Not that I have ever had a short of course! LOL

[@rickhudson6890]

Ya See..Whut had happened wuz... Great progress Arnmstrong Fam! Just like the ant eats the elephant...one bite at a time!

[@lenwhatever4187]

RF has a positive? actually it is AC ;) I would call it hot, active or live. If can't find other things to bug ya about, you did ok.

[@licencetoswill]

signal and shield. the weird thing to me is that rf signals travel through the dielectric between the two conductors. magic in other words. nice work on the pl259 connectors - the best way to test is with an SWR meter.

[@jimlofts5433]

too late now but a rubber gasket behind the plate would have evened out any gaps so that it would look perfect when people use binoculars on the deck and see any imperfections - but if you don't mind people with telephoto cameras posting about it online ......

[@georgecarney3083]

On the PL259 connector the ground section with the holes should have the nickel plating removed by either a light file or scrapped with a utility knife exposing the copper to make a firm solder joint with the shield of the RG58 cable. Tinning the shield could cause the Teflon insulation housing the centre feed to melt due to the heat of the soldering iron, as a fair amount of heat is required to tin the shield, thus possibly losing the 50ohm impedance giving you a higher SWR than what is required. So tinning the shield is not a good idea. Just screw the cable onto the connector and then solder the copper shield to the exposed copper of the connector around the holes from the cleaning of the nickel plating. The soldering of the centre core was good, but in stead of using heat shrink use a self vulcanising tape such as Scotch23 to waterproof the entire connector once fitted to the antenna from the top down. Always make the last wrap of the tape from the bottom (cable side) up to the antenna so that the over lap is always on the top of the last wrap allowing water to not get into the fitting and cable. A quicker way is using a crimp connector and as this connector will not be having any weight or tension on it, it would do the job perfectly.

[@SailingDauntless]

Thanks for the tip!

[@davidrhightower]

You can use butyl tape and wrap around the pl-259 to prevent water from getting into it

[@divekatdreaming]

Thanks for your awesome explanation! I learned something today! Thanks! Have an awesome week!!!

[@Hardrock1a]

Ummmm just a thought, why, if a piece of shrink tubing “won’t interfere” with VHF radio performance would you think that it would interfere with bolt of lightning hitting it? The shrink wrap doesn’t change the fact the antenna is made of metal.

[@lenwhatever4187]

Two different things. Lightening does have the power to burn through heat shrink but it generally follows traces made by currents that are much lower in voltage than the burn through value of the shrink wrap. The idea of lightening protectors is to bleed the charge off before it gets to a high enough potential to be a problem. That is lightening should never hit it in the first place.

[@sailingelectricgitana1286]

You can 3D print such things in UV safe ABS. I use OpenSCAD software. You can probably find a programmer to make custom mounting brackets for you. I'm behind the bamboo curtain so of no help at the moment.

[@nimrodofbeaulieu2638]

Had a thought Assume I am wrong The rigging company has supplied you with oversized rigging ( no problem) Looking at the length of the new turnbuckle and fittings will the shrouds now be too long? Worth a quick measurement before the the lift Good luck

[@noelsharpe5970]

You may come across a problem with the new turnbuckles. Your total stay length maybe on the long side now.

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

I've been thinking about this and came back to inquire. Are you compensating for voltage drop and degrading for the conduit, in the mast, fill ratio? Heat degradation, I'm assuming, is paramount. 🤔

[@spaRTan3246]

Is the cam the Sunba 507-D20X? I‘d love to see some test videos - maybe even a top down. When you tilt it left and right can it look „around“ the mast? It‘s great to see the 50 coming back to life. Greetings from a 48… 🍻

[@SailingDauntless]

Yes it is! Will let you know how it’s working when we get it up and running

[@mikesampson2336]

Wow the only thing you missing on your mask is a bird 🦅 nest 🪺 😂

[@MichaelJohnson-rc1kp]

starting to feel like a boat repair channel and not a sailing channel.

[@SailingDauntless]

Kinda feels that way these days

[@pleclerc1]

Great video...Your next tool needs to be a 3D printer, you'd be able to make all sorts of part ;)