There
have been many questions on the reflectors as to what to use as
connectors on cable TV Hardline. At this station we are using
many hundreds of feet of 1/2" and 3/4" hardline obtained at
an attractive price from the local cable TV company.
I
found out rather rapidly that commercial connectors were hard to get,
required special tools, and were expensive.
I
recently built a 40 meter 4 square located 300 feet from the shack and
ran a length of 3/4 to it. I took some pictures of the connector
construction process to illustrate the ease with which these
connectors can be constructed.
The
Parts:
Pick
up a "Half Inch Pipe Adapter" at your local hardware store.
These fittings are 3/4 threaded on the big end and
1/2" smooth on the small end, and are made from copper.
Find
a barrel connector to mate PL-259's (PL-258?). Make sure your
barrel connector has a snap ring at one end (some don't) holding the
guts in place. Place the barrel connector in a padded vice,
non snap ring end down, and hack saw a vertical slice through the snap
ring at the other end. The snap ring can now be removed from the
assembly, along with both plastic spacers and the metal center conductor
tube.
All
of the pieces are laid out in this photo.
Insert
the "sliced" end of the barrel connector in the 1/2"
end of the pipe adapter. Use a propane torch to flow solder
between the barrel connector and the pipe adapter. After it cools,
insert ONE of the plastic spacers back in to the barrel
connector.
Cut
your hardline to the proper length. Measure back an inch or so,
and hack saw (or use a tubing cutter) through the plastic insulation
and the aluminum jacket. Use pliers to peel away the aluminum
jacket, and a sharp knife to remove the foam insulation, exposing the
copper jacketed center conductor.
Cut
the center conductor to 5/8" in length. Peel back
the black plastic outer cover 2". Solder one end of the metal
barrel connector center conductor to the hardline center conductor. (
I use the propane torch for all my outdoor soldering )
I
use two pipe wrenches to thread the pre-assembled connector to the
aluminum jacket. Use Noalox or any anti oxidant on the jacket
before threading.
Here
is the completed connector, ready for tape and sealing. The
total cost of each connector should be under $2.00.