Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Click Here for Terms of Use in Software

Drawer PDF417 in Software Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Click Here for Terms of Use

If you re going to play with RF, sooner or later you re going to have to put a connector onto a piece of coaxial cable To do that and maintain the correct RF properties of the connector-coax interface, and to ensure that the connector mates properly with the socket, you need to cut and trim the cable accurately and assemble the connector to the cable in a prescribed manner For those of you who are proficient at wiring trays, cable harnesses, punch-down blocks for network jack panels, and making your own Ethernet cables, assembling RF connectors is not far from what you re familiar with, but the care needed is a notch above basic crimping and punching and the good news is you can do this even if you re color-blind The graphics presented have been provided by Amphenol-Connex (wwwamphenolconnexcom) and through the courtesy of Connex Electronics (wwwconnex-electronicscom), a distributor of their products Connex is a world leader in connector technology There are other manufacturers of cables and connectors but the standards and many of the first military-grade connector designations were done by Amphenol and its researchers first You will likely be able to obtain these or similar connectors through online retailers such as HyperLink Technologies (wwwhyperlinktechcom) All connectors used for 80211a and 80211b service should be nickel, silver, or gold with Teflon insulating materials Avoid lowcost, after-market connectors available with lesser materials or nylon insulators that are mechanically weak, melt at high soldering temperatures, or break down with exposure to the elements These will degrade the performance of your system the price of quality on hurts once

Certainly, if you are not mechanically inclined or do not want to invest the tools or time to assemble your own, then buying preassembled cables is your best option Preassembled pigtails are highly recommended for systems that use the smaller MC-Card or MMCX connectors, as these require special tools and care to assemble

To work with these and similar connectors you will need a few select tools and the dexterity to use them all properly In most cases the following tools will be all that you need:

A sharp razor or Xacto knife A pair of 4- to 6-inch needle-nosed pliers A pair of 4- to 5-inch fine diagonal or flush-cut wire cutters A larger 6- to 8-inch wire cutter for larger cables A small-medium 3/8- to 9/16-inch opening adjustable wrench A pair of combination or offset pliers to grasp larger connector bodies A ruler with fractional and decimal measurements A good quality soldering iron (not a gun-type or a tinner s iron) I recommend a temperature-controlled Weller soldering station with both 700 to 800 degree Fahrenheit 1/16-inch pointed and 3/16-inch flat tips A high quality solder minimally 60/40 but I prefer to use 63/37 mix solder for more reliable soldering, especially for those new to the craft A suitable crimping tool for crimp-on connectors

For crimp-type connectors, spending the money on the right crimping tool ($40 80 for generic crimpers, up to $400 or more for manufacturer s specific tools) is one of the best investments you will make towards proper connector work Sometimes you can work around the absence of a crimping tool by soldering the center pin to the center conductor, or the ferrule to the connector body, making sure that solder flows to the shield as well, but soldering crimp connections is not recommended

Good soldering is a balance between the amount of heat available a 700 or 800 degree temperature controlled tip is best the size of the item to be heated, adequate contact to transfer the heat, and the timing of getting the temperature of the item high enough to melt and accept the solder without burning or melting the surrounding insulation When soldering, make sure the tip of the iron is exceptionally clean, well-tinned, and cleaned again before making contact with the surface to be soldered Then, when heating the item, make solid contact, get the piece hot as quickly as possible, apply solder, let it flow, and then remove the heat I suggest practicing the tinning and soldering process with ordinary speaker cable and inexpensive lugs before moving to delicate RF connectors and smaller wires and pins If you want to become proficient at soldering, I suggest a careful review of the NASA workmanship standard #87393 available at http://workmanshipnasagov/ws_8739_3jsp for tips and graphic examples of efficient reliable soldered connections