In this day and age of silver solder, which is a paste, I find that, if you
put that on the braid all the way around, about half of the braid closest to
the insulation on the coax, only go out about half way form that so it
doesn't run and cause a short, but go all the way around that far, then heat
up the shell of the connector, it will prevent that impedance glitch he
talks about on VHF, it's very bad on UHF that way BTW, and it's probably
just as good. I'm sure glad I found that stuff. 

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Christopher Moore
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 8:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Another method of soldering PL-259's

Does fully assembled mean that you don't unscrew the outer piece and slide
it back on the coax as you normally would?  Also, it would take a lot of
solder to go all the way around the connector.  Not sure how the braid would
be held in place while you solder.
Finally, this method may be designed for large diameter coax.  

Anyway, it's certainly worth a try.  The connectors you buy these days are
all coming through crimped.

73, Chris w1gm
On Mon, Nov 27, 2006 at 06:06:55PM -0500, steve wrote:
> Since this subject pops up from time to time, and this method avoids 
> soldering  the braid through the little holes,  I thought some might find
it
> of interest.    Tim, K3LR posted this discription to the Tower Talk list
and 
> I asked him if he minded  me posting it to this list.
> 
> For what it's worth, K3LR has a world class DXing and contesting 
> station with a bunch of towers, over 20 yagis, another 20 verticals, 
> some rx antennas,  and all the switches and filters needed to run a high
power
> multi-multi station.   Says he has hundreds of PL 259's installed  in this

> manner with no failures  in over 20 years.
> 
> Steve KW3A
> >From K3LR:
> I have hundreds of silver plated PL-259s in service at my station. 
> They are all soldered the same way. It is different from what almost 
> everyone else does.
> Good soldered shields are very important to me.
> 
> I was never sure my shields were well soldered or had melted the 
> dielectric before using this method (before 1982).
> 
> Bill, N4AR taught me how to do this and I have been doing this 
> "unconventional method" ever since.
> 
> Using silver plated PL259s makes this system a breeze. I use the ones 
> that say "Made in USA" on the shell.
> I will try to describe the method. I need to post some pictures on my 
> web site.
> 
> Take a fully assembled (shell + body) connector.
> Measure the connector against the RG8 (or similar) coax.
> Take the outer covering of the coax off with a sharp knife.
> Pull the braid back all the way by fanning it out.
> Wrap 3 to 4 turns of Scotch 88 black tape around the center conductor 
> dielectric up against the fanned out braid.
> Use wire strippers and remove the remaining dielectric from the center 
> conductor.
> Install the fully assembled PL259 onto the center conductor and over 
> the 88 tape.
> The back of the PL259 body should rest on the fanned out shield.
> Solder the center conductor.
> Fan out the shield and cut it to 1/4" long and fold over the back of 
> the PL259.
> Solder the shield all the way around to the back of the PL259 body.
> While the back is still hot wrap 2 turns of 88 tape around the 
> soldered shield to seal it good.
> 
> I use a Weller D550 soldering gun for this process
> 
> Now you can enjoy a well soldered shielded PL259! I have NEVER had one
fail!
> 
> There may be a small impedance bump that you might be able to see at 
> VHF caused by this method vs. soldering through the holes, but the 
> N4AR method guarantees a well soldered shield which is much more 
> important to me.
> 
> 73!
> Tim K3LR
> 
> http://www.k3lr.com