It's been quite some time since I've been on TSP! I've missed some of y'all! I've had a very crazy year with lots of ups and downs! But I've been reading a lot! So I'm not too far out of the loop. I pray everyone had a Merry Christmas and a great start to your New Year!
Well, we just had our 1st club meeting of the year! It was a business/technical meeting. However, it's the technical portion I am writing about this morning!
We had a demo regarding crimp vs. solder connectors. I'm almost certain this isn't the only article on here regarding the topic. But it may have been awhile. Now, I'm not going to debate which is better. That could be a debate for the ages. I will however share my opinion on the subject. I have made both. I have tested both. I have used both.
I was annoyed with the recent demo. So much so, that I went to my truck and got out a scrap piece of coax and a solder connector and etc. I was annoyed for a couple factors. 1st, the person's conducting the demo swore this is the way to go. It was "easier, stronger and faster!" I called B.S. on at least 2 of the 3. The 3rd, "faster" was debatable. Easier: not really except that you could add the connector with just 1 multi-tool. Stronger: Not even. I asked them to do a pull test on the connector. (Worry not, I replaced their connector). Their came apart after 15lbs of pull. The solder connector never came apart even after 25lbs of pull. Faster: well, if you add the time it took me to heat the iron, then yes, they beat me. Had I started the same time as them, it would've, at the least, been a tie. I used a cheap wire stripper, a soldering iron, solder, and some heat shrink. They used a couple of expensive DX Engineering wire cutting kits, a DX Engineering crimp tool, and some heat shrink. The one person ordered the crimp tool just for the demo, (more moeny than he knows what to do with). It took the both of them to put on 2 connectors on a 30' roll of RG8 coax. Seriously, it took them near 50 minutes to finish. Anyway, I thought I'd share as I was taught to use solder connectors. Again, I'm not against crimp connectors. In a pinch, (no pun intended), they can get you on the air and relatively quickly. But given my preference, I think y'all know where I stand. What's your preference?