Some Myths about Coax

This Video is to explain some issues with the various types of Coax and how heat affects them

[@kd5dnk]

i have been a radio tech for45 years starting in the military and am currently a extra class hamm i have never soldered the braid to the connector

[@VanishingNomad]

I have always soldered the shield. The way I do it, is to tin the connector real good before i put the braid in. Then I set the solder iron on the connector, and flow it into the hole. Never had a problem. Even if the insulator softens up, it does not get deformed like that. It's only a problem if you try shoving the iron into the hole.

[@arconeagain]

It also changes the properties of the coax. That's why you don't bother with connectors that require soldering of the shield. Compression all the way for me.

[@DavidMonterey]

20 years military aviation. 19 years civil aviation. Hundreds of different type of coax, triax, and twisted pair quads. Never soldered a shield. Clean signal pin solder, external connectors use silver solder. Reducer? We call it a sleeve. Braid is dressed back, foil is removed. Proper crimper is used on the shell after final assembly to finalize the connection. P.S it is not foam - it is called dielectric.

[@Brenda-jf2pe]

The dryer in the background making me crazy! Other than that great video . High dollar lmr 400 has a poly center that does not melt. BBI the amp guy did a video on this subject also! 😎🤓

[@davydacounsellor]

You guys are the biggest bunch of women I've ever heard, for the hobbyist looking to do the job right this has pointed me in the right direction, when buying connectors with minimum risk, great vid well done.

[@RoadKing05FLHR]

It is best to pull the braid out of the holes and use that as a soldering point. On smaller coax the reducer can be used instead as shown. Great video. Thanks

[@charlottepike165]

You know that the reducer is getting hot as well. Although you are not putting the iron directly to the dielectric, it is still getting hot. The way you should do it is to fold the braided shield back then twist the reducer onto the shield. No solider needed for the shield. It will have a good mechanical ground. the only solider needed is the the center conductor to the tip.

[@parrotbill]

In other words, use everything you need and know what you're doing...never take short cuts! I cut thousands of Cable TV fitting as a contractor and had to clean up messes that the home owner tried to do leaving foil across the center and crimping with pliers and sometimes hammers. I came to houses where the home owner "Pre-wired, everything so all I had to do was hook it up from the pole." Yea right... when it didn't work, of course it was all my fault with all of his fittings he cut shorting out. Folks should first, buy the right tools and second you could almost learn to do brain surgery from KZbin, so they darn sure can find good videos like yours to show them how to do it right before they start. Very informative demonstration video that even a child could follow, good job!

[@JulesBartow]

+Parrot Bill The DIY brain surgery is working well for me. Only problem I ran into was all the cerebral spinal fluid leaked out once. Doooh! The dog licked it off the floor and had diarrhea for two days. Double Doooh! If KZbin offered PhDs they'd be calling me Doctor Julio rather than Gringo Julio from all the school'n I got from here. Amphenol makes connectors that require no soldering, the 83-58FCP.

[@ScooterZn]

I tried to do brain surgery on myself but every time I gave myself the anaesthetic, I passed out. I tried several times but still didn't make it before I passed out. Gave up in the end and took the anaesthetic instead. I didn't care about the brain surgery after that.

[@parrotbill]

ScooterZn LOL!

[@JulesBartow]

+ScooterZn Anaesthesia is for wimps. Use a sharper drill bit at max speed next time. Once you have the skull open plunge your coat hanger down into the Hypothalamus and root around until you severe the pain receptors. You won't pass out if you do it quick enough. I use a cork with the coat hanger running through it to keep cerebral spinal fluid from staining the carpet. Check out my KZbin channel to view the proper way to stick your entire arm up a horse's ass. Charming.

[@parrotbill]

Jules Bartow Damn man you are hard core. do you think you will survive all that crap?

[@1903A3shooter]

Hi Wegott. Yea I agree with what you say, The thing that really gets me is that we hams have to abide by laws and rules and I see Amps for sale for the CB free banders that are 5 or 10KW and no one cares. Well that's the way it is now. I bet it does take quite a while to get anyplace in the Lone Star State. Take care and dont drive to fast. DAVE

[@Phlloyd1]

Thanks for the tips.... newish to building and love the perspective. I recently about a tip whereby you cleaned the plating off the distal end of the reducer, and when you folded the shield back, you soldered the shield to the end. I'm sure that you'd have to be as careful with your heat lest you make that dielectric into butter. (VA6PHL)

[@TheLASERJAW]

Thanks for the video. I use only the RG-8 size coax and have used ONLY the large coax for 42 years. Putting on the standard pl-259 I fan the shield and fold back over the black jacket. I thread on the plug, trapping the shield between the plug and jacket. Screw down till tight. Trim back shield to the plug nice and neat. Solder the center conductor. Finish by filing down for a good fit and checking with an ohm meter for shorts, resistance and continuity. Plug in and go. 73 de Dino N0RJP.

[@kennethschultz6465]

Same her Way Better I even take a knif and Making hard jacket Thin ....

[@harleypattersonkc9gld167]

Yes, I agree 100% de kc9gld

[@eogg25]

I enjoy most of the videos on youtube and don't understand why people get all bent out of shape when they disagree. its only youtube and the people that make these videos are usually doing it because they enjoy shareing ideas with other people. if you have a better idea, share it. you don't have to prove you are smarter than everyone else, because you probably are not. enjoy, have fun. 73

[@HAMRADIOJOE4178]

THE NOISE SOUNDS LIKE A CLOTHES DRYER AND IT SOUNDS LIKE HIS CELL PHONE IS TO CLOSE TO THE COMPUTER. AND BY THE WAY GREAT VIDEO.

[@jstrunck]

Yes sir! ANY dielectric foam, cheap or expensive, will not take heat. Also, 8X is a signal hog. We use RG8 or LMR 400 with LMR 400 UHF connectors. LMR400 or higher seems to do the job everytime. Thanks for posting this, John

[@UZI9MMAUTO]

IF and a BIG if use a connector without the reducer. I will 'thread' braid through the holes and connect it all around. Its hard to do but can be done. It looks when you 'solder' a junction on copper pipe. Very shiny, clean and best of all conductive. Just get it with the reducer. I also use conductive grease on the braid to prevent corrosion.

[@gibbonspider]

Sound like he printing off 100 dollar bills in the background...Hmmmm!

[@181skip]

I really loved the video. i used to think diffrent. but after watching your video. i re did all the conections on my coax. thank you for your video. it really helped me out

[@JOHNAA3M]

That Heliax cable uses a non-solder connector. The inner conductor pin screws into the hollow center conductor and the outer connector connection compression fits to the stripped outer conductor. There is no soldering or heat involved ( unless you apply shrink tubing) to put on the connector.

[@johnyoung1128]

Some heliax connectors require soldering of the centre pin to the centre conductor.

[@davep6977]

that's why I started using crimp on connectors, especially for RG8 or LMR 400

[@MrJaz8088]

Heating the Centre Wire would also heat the Foam so how do you Solder the Centre Wire ?

[@arrayorchestra]

I make pickups for an instrument the array mbira. Sometimes a coax piezo cable pickup shorts out completely so there is no output, but sometimes it simply loses a lot of its power output, it seems OK until you check its output against that of another pick up, The soldering gun must be melting the inner sleeve and changing the capacitive coupling so that a PARTIAL short occurs. are there sleeve connectors of the type you describe for 20 aug cable?

[@scott91372]

So how does the large coax get soldered to the PL-259 without melting the foam? When you soldered threw the holes it does not look like a good bond between the solder and the PL-259.

[@cbrepairguy]

I have read on some forums that they don't agree with me on this method of soldering coax and some have gone into great lengths of detail on how they do there ends. Well first off I did not say it could not be done soldering the shield but what I said is it can cause problems and does cause them for the most part. Now if you want to take 45 min. to solder one end and want to do a lot of work to prep go for it. The bottom line is that if you change the foam you change the rating of the coax.

[@HighVoltageCB]

The reducers are required on smaller coax for a few reasons, 1. It eliminates the possibility of shorting the center conductor with the shielding. 2. It stops the smaller coax like RG8-X from flopping around in the PL-259 and weakening the soldier connection of the center conductor. 3. It just looks cleaner. So until you learn the proper uses of the tools required to prolong the best functionality of the equipment, I suggest you sit back and pay attention to what the man is saying in his videos.

[@quaxk]

psychological projection is a fascinating behavior, you display the exact same traits you accuse this man of just one phrase later and you're completely oblivious to it, that last part is also mind blowing, criticism is not equivalent to "trolling" or "hating", if you ego is so fragile you can't deal with it then why make your videos public? others don't just exist to cater to your vanity, this is a childish view of the world and you're still stuck with it, amazing :)

[@Tool19672]

So are you saying it's better to use the mini coax with a reducer than use the big coax ? because of a chance of a short ?

[@deezknutts]

Heliax connectors require no soldering. Foam filled coax stinks. The 9913 I use has a durable plastic insulator. Always tin your center conductor, and if you can, tin the shield before installing the connector. It melts much faster and you don't kill it with heat.

[@121lakeside2]

lol well i just use lmr 400 i tin my braid then screw on the pl-259 teflon plug heat the soder gun up soder the plug thru the holes and im done simple and effective never melted any foam protecting the center conductor thats how i do figured i share

[@kennethschultz6465]

GREETINGS FROM DENMARK 🇩🇰 🖖 🇩 🇰 🖖 🇩🇰. YES YOU ARE 100% CORREKT I USE 50WATT WELLER AND 4% CU AND SILVER

[@j3p071]

Any idea why my cable connector is so touchy? If I tighten the connector to the back of the radio my SWRs are very high. However, if I barley just touch it to the antenna port it works fine.

[@mavamQ]

Valid point, try to not overheat plastic. But, when the large coax is in the connector, you are heating the braid that you fanned out, under that is the black plastic layer, under that is a layer of undisturbed shield, then is your white center insulator. The odds of shorting the braid to center conductor as described in small.

[@davemitchell116]

Would have been better if he'd put his cell phone in another room. The very distracting noise you hear is the "hello ping" a cell phone sends to the local cell tower. All cell phones do it, and it sometimes interferes with audio equipment, in this case the audio recorder on his video camera.

[@grigorirasputin5020]

Dave Mitchell Sounds like a PCS phone. They have a very distinctive, AND ANNOYING, sound which tends to interfere with lots of other electronics.

[@jessejamesdallas]

Ok...Makes perfect since...But if your going to be using something like RG 213, then what alternative choice do you have other than soldering on the foam? Not soldering and hoping for the best?

[@JoeLalumia]

Good video-- I never solder the shield on RG213. Just fold back the braid , trim it short, and "screw-on" the PL connector. Never had one fail and I do use an amplifier. The screwed on connection is VERY tight and the shield makes 360 degree contact with the connector. 73 W1XWX

[@kennethlyon3829]

Thanks for taking the time to show this potential problem. Tip of the hat from me, Sir.

[@MarshmallowMadnesss]

Is soldering coax necessary? I have a crimping tool, but no soldering iron.

[@Mediocre1987]

Hard line hard cbl I work for a commercial cable company we call it hard cable here to each his own though all the same

[@414730]

As stated above, show the correct way to solder the large coax

[@TheTarrMan]

I'm installing a CB radio on my car, first time. Is there any benefit to installing two antennas for one radio? Also, I'm hearing a lot about grounding the antenna, any advise doing that for a magnetic base antenna.

[@H95Shooterv12]

Man i gota get a ham license and get a home base set up. But i will still use my cb. Only reason id run Ham is my great uncle who passed on left a big shop full of ham radio stuff so there is no use letting it go to waste eh

[@bigpimp347]

how many people actually solder the outer braid..!! i mean really in over 30 years i have NEVER soldered the outer braid.. and we (in the UK) never use reducers, we get PL-259 that are designed for the coax.. get the right coax, get the right plugs, don't use reducers and why oh why do you have to solder the braid..!!

[@joerowland7350]

1,5kw

[@stresstested]

Man. I'm glad you said this. I would never presume to group all HAMs into this category but you sir are right on the money this time.

[@axolotyls]

Very informative! Thanks.

[@themeddleman]

Video well done. I wonder if you would agree that coax with a higher thread count (on the sheild/braid) is better for capacitance?

[@uglytothebone5]

thank for the video u did good little tips like that mean a lot to me.

[@1112223333111]

I find the solder dont stick to the pl259 unless it is a silver type or you rough it up a bit where you want it to stick.

[@gordonlawrence3537]

There are a host of other problems too - it will cause an impedance miss-match even in 0dBm systems which can cause a lot of reflected signals and therefore noise. The easy way round it is to use crimp connectors or in lower frequency applications the screw-on ones. If you want to go for 20+GHz crimping is the only real option.

[@5150roc]

I'm running an 18ft. coax and I need to add about 4ft. Can I just add a 4ft extension (female/male adaptors) piece to get what I need, or will this effect the efficiency of my set-up? My current SWR readings are below 1.5 Thanks

[@charlottepike165]

Yes. Just use a barrel connector. it will not do anything to your SWR. But you can count on a 1 DB gain loss for every connector.

[@charlottepike165]

Tom T you are correct about the 1 db for every 100ft. But It there is also a 1db loss for every connector added. Thanks you.

[@ScooterZn]

Is it a gain or a loss? You can't have both or they cancel each other out.

[@cory8791]

great info !!!!

[@markcheech5496]

Next time turn off your phone and dryer

[@gatesmw50]

I realize this is a training video where u are soldering the connector on just one end of the coax. But when u do installs on connectors to both ends, remember to leave the connector shells on BEFORE you do the solder connector. I've done that mistake too many times to count LOL!

[@pickford7812]

I'm no expert, but I figured that contacting the foam with the soldering iron was a bad idea.

[@MrMac5150]

You don't need to solder it at all, if it is touching outer connector it will radiate that current with no problem, your not gaining anything by soldering it, you also have the skin effect at high frequency, if you want it a little more snug pack a little aluminum foil in the connector, your not removing any extra resistance by soldering it, its not a DC connection, Just food for though..

[@montydenney3860]

I’m tempted to get the compressions system. I recently installed some BNC connectors on some RG6 for camera runs. The compression fittings were awesome. Anyone have a thought on the compression fittings?

[@02lswith22s]

When I soldered the inside wire to the pin do u think I could of damaged my coax it reads fine on swr but radio doesn't get out as fat as it used to

[@gearjammer4779]

Is that a dryer running in the background? How annoying! 😖

[@Nnip9]

Please tell us how you then ground the braid if you can't solder it.

[@Jail-Left-Wing-Traitors]

+N Nip hes talkin shit.. just solder it ..

[@justingrigg1763]

This is why you don't purchase cheap coax.

[@CZ350tuner]

On of my coax cable runs here uses spoked air cored APX-4 which has braid & foil on top to deal with so not safe to solder the braid on this. It cost me £5.60 per metre back in 1982 so I'm not even going to try that as it costs more than any of the antenna systems on the masts. As for using adapter sleeves to fit RG-58 onto RG-8 / RG-213U coax, why not just use the correct PL-259?? Only coax that I've had issues with is UR-67 when it comes to attaching PL-259 plugs as the core sinks heat so quickly if the iron isn't powerful enough.

[@Duddie82]

That was very helpful, Thank you!

[@icsp2]

Heliax cable does not need soldering so what is the point in showing how the foam burns.

[@akbychoice]

I'm no pro but I've never had an issue like you describe.

[@kennethschultz6465]

No you are not pro so how shut you know ??!!

[@UZI9MMAUTO]

Most people are not going to go through all of that. Which is the purpose of this video.

[@cbrepairguy]

@7961640 WOW I guess you do have the proper equipment, a magic soldering iron that will get hot enough to stick to the plated connector and not hot enough to damage the "foam" or should I sway dielectric insulator.

[@UZI9MMAUTO]

Agree!

[@davidbrittenham4631]

This is mostly incorrect information, misleading at best. I'm sure the author thinks this is accurate information, but I assure you it is not. Yes, too much heat will damage the dielectric (what he's calling the foam), but proper technique will prevent such damage. To those who say the holes are for inspection, not soldering, you are dead wrong. I've been a ham for 49 years, held a first-class commercial radiotelephone license for 41 years, and worked in broadcast and commercial 2-way radio for 43 years, and even read the Amphenol technical document on proper connector installation. Trust me, the holes ARE for soldering. The shield, whether using a reducer or not, does not make tight contact with the shell of the connector. Soldering is absolutely necessary. The proper technique is to tin the shield braid, and also tin the connector (around the holes) before inserting the coax into the connector, then it will take a minimum amount of heat and solder to make the connection. The example he show as properly soldered is NOT soldered at all. Look at how the solder is beaded up in the holes. It has not flowed smoothly over the connector and is most likely a "cold solder joint", meaning that the beaded solder is not actually making contact with the connector itself. A properly soldered connector will have the solder flowed smoothly over the hole, not beaded up in the hole. Also, you do NOT use a pencil iron for this job! It can't properly heat the connector, which results in the cold solder beads shown incorrectly as "properly soldered". You need at least a 140-watt iron or gun for this job. It heats the immediate area quickly and the solder flows before the center dielectric ever has a chance to deform. If you do use a pencil iron, you get the cold joint shown in his "properly soldered" example. And, if you were to use a pencil iron, you would never, ever stick the point of the tip into the hole like he is showing. The author needs some education on proper soldering technique.

[@OldLordSpeedy]

David Brittenham Thanks for talk about that. I am no ham, not so old same you, but I learn this at my first solder lesson as I was 12 years old. Yeah, do you can found many wrong video lessons at KZbin!

[@antoniovivaldi2270]

Thank you!

[@g0fvt]

David Brittenham I am also in the trade, and thoroughly agree with your points.

[@EdWatts]

In addition to tinning the braid and the holes, I use an American Beauty 3178 iron (300 Watts) to do the final soldering of the connector shell to the braid. Big tip, lots of heat, little time.

[@rickvia8435]

I couldn't tell ya if it's incorrect or not (I'd know). I couldn't make it past :43...

[@uradiosupply]

You need to learn more about coax´s soldering ways.For you I suggest to use the LMR coax and EZ connectors solderless

[@laurakeeg6522]

"Great video This is the shit that can drive someone crazy dicking around over and over again not knowing where the problem lies!!!! Good man. Thanks for your time!!!!!

[@thebakerman1]

Sounds like this guy was receiving a cell-phone call at the beginning of this video. The weird noise that occurs at the start happens to me when my phone is laying next to my computer speakers and I'm about the get a phone call. Anytime I would hear this noise it was only a a matter of seconds before my cellular phone would start ringing.

[@frankdeedrick5255]

foam dielectric coax is designed to b e crimped(not soldered) solid diectric should be soldered, using only amphenol silver connectgors and lots off heat so that it is soldered quickly.

[@PONDRIVERBOYS]

will a cable cord work as a coax cable for a police scanner?

[@kennethschultz6465]

Is ther coax on the drum.. ?? 120/230v leads is 75.Ohm most scanner antennas is 50.Ohm

[@lpark8]

Very clear and helpful - thanks! 😎🙏

[@543Dallas]

Why not use a mini torch? It gets hot fast enough to solder the shield without melting the center conductor insulator. Just don't use cheap pl259's and dont move the coax till it cools.

[@usernamemykel]

Very instructional, thank you.

[@Sivart4323]

dielectric, not foam

[@howardlichtman1150]

So why do you solder the braid? Look online and you can see how to terminate coax.

[@Team-fabulous]

A very good and informative video..

[@nakayle]

The PL259 is not really a good connector anyway, especially at VHF frequencies. Hardly any commercial radios use it- just hams and CBers.

[@chuckcrowell6751]

no shit

[@johncliff996]

To chuck crowell. Yea! No shit Man. Try reading about coax and connectors to see what constant impedance means.

[@240z2011]

What is soder.?

[@mikehannahs]

Very good vid man i learned a lot thanks:)

[@potshot23]

Heliax uses compression fittings, no solder needed..

[@Tbvck]

It is funny you are talking about shielding coax, while a cell phone or other appliance is interfering (Leaking RF) thru the beginning of your video?

[@bestfrogs247]

Thank you for posting the video!

[@rtel123]

Needs some editing. Could have been said in under 5 minutes. In the final analysis, the reducer is connected mechanically to the coupling, and the couplings are not soldered either. So, the electrical connection is thru a solder joint, then 4 mechanical, then perhaps another solder joint on the next wire. Might as well just have the shield and the coupler connected mechanically. One less joint.

[@cbrepairguy]

@scottishmale1970 This is one of the most used methods of soldering coax so I don't know what all the bull is about. Yes IF you have the pl-259 that has the reduced end you can fold over the shield and screw it on but if you don't have the this is the way to do it and no, you don't want to damage the foam insulator or you have damaged the coax. Instead of being so critical why don't you join in and give more suggestions how to do it.

[@mauricemarshall73]

Great detailed video...

[@francescogerotto8496]

I solder the braid only in boat use for the oxidation .....

[@MrJonswift200]

sounds like the mic cable needs some some sheilding, is that RF interferace on the audio track

[@dpacino6830]

Dude you would be fired on sight...i work for a major cable company and this is a big no no

[@willk7702]

Dpacino then how do you do it?

[@paullalli3705]

It's obvious to me that this guy doesn't do much soldering to RG-8 sized coax. There are two easy methods to keep from melting that dielectric foam (or the solid stuff). And No, it doesn't involve conductive glue...

[@CAphotos]

Shaky, out-of-focus, poorly lighted and you posted it anyway?

[@zasgat]

This video may be potato quality today but when it was recorded it was apple quality

[@darrellsmith6773]

you have good ideas, but the background noise is very annoying. Try again OM and let us catch up. Darrell in Ga.

[@tacos5444]

You don't troubleshoot coax in the beehive dryer where you live?! :D

[@UZI9MMAUTO]

Then you'd be the first in my book. Its a very very common practice here. Are you sure you mean PL259? Mobile phones and Higher Frequency installations are usually MICROWAVE band. Yes of course you see it mainly fixed on and such. Perhaps you overlooked that detail? We are dealing with waveguides n shit

[@jsmitty1974]

lol @ the cell phone interference on the video. Must be an AT&T phone.

[@1903A3shooter]

100 and 200 watt C.B. transceivers that find there way up to the 10 meter Ham band? seems to me that the respect for law and order has fallen completely off the planet. Dave w4gsm

[@Dave5783]

thanks good job and there are alot of good irons out there ..weller WES51 WESD51 , hakko so go from the ..Thanks cbrapairguy

[@merenvagyokakacsa]

need some shielding oin the cam too:D

[@FixAllFixer62]

I was redose is because people useing the bigger on small cable when should useing smaller connection

[@radio40]

rg 8 mini ,rg 58 are used primarily in mobile applications and rg8 and 213 are used for base stations and solder to the tip of any of them is very important rg8 and 213 will thread them self very secure without any shield solder needed