Thanks for the tip, Don. Been preparing coax cables for years the hard (and wrong) way.
Sent from my iPhone > On Oct 10, 2019, at 3:02 PM, Don Wilhelm <[email protected]> wrote: > > Clark and all, > > The secret to stripping the outer insulation from ANY coax (including the > RG178) is to first score the outer insulation a bit (not trying to cut all > the way to the shield), then bend the cable at the score mark which will > stretch the insulation a bit - then a light touch with the blade will cause > the insulation to split all the way down to the shield. > Rotate the cable to the other side and do the 'bend and touch' thing again. > You should then be able to slide the insulation off the shield. > > Separate the shield strands and split them into two groups - twist the > strands on one half and cut the rest away. > > You can do the same "score, bend and touch" operation to the center conductor > if you do not have good wire cutters to strip it. Do not nick the conductor, > or it will break after it is soldered. > > The other thing many hams do not realize is that the braid of the shield > should NOT be filled with solder (making it stiff). Solder only the tip as > far in as necessary to make the connection. If soldered stiff, it will > usually break either where it is soldered to the board or connector or at the > point where the braid exits the coax. > I have replaced the input coax on many KPA100s and KAT2s that were broken > because the shield was soldered stiff. > > 73, > Don W3FPR > >> On 10/10/2019 2:27 PM, Clark Macaulay wrote: >> Helps a lot, Jim. >> Yes...you answered my question in that you have done it. So, I'll set >> aside a morning where I swear off coffee (steadier hands) and using a new >> razor blade give it a try. Didn't know the cable in the kit is RG178 which >> is about 30% smaller than RG174. I don't see anyplace on the board to tack >> on a RG174 cable as the pads for the SMT components are so small. It's >> actually a beautiful board. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
