the connector is a coax male-male adaptor, for connecting two cables to
each other.
It was built assuming that each cable would have the little wire in the
middle. The TV side of it was broken off with the original connector.
The twist tie (with the paper stripped off) just serves as a thin piece
of metal to go in the middle. I don't think that is the problem
(wouldn't make any sense.) As to installing it properly, how would you
connect the coax jack except with solder? It needs to be a secure
electrical connection. If I had something designed for this purpose,
would it not be essentially the exact same thing, (except for a lot of
money), and wouldn't it still be soldered in place?

I thought of the possibility that I had shorted the coax by having a
bit of solder crossed between the two, but in that case, why would the
same thing happen from the RCA composite input even with the coax
unplugged? The RCA jacks aren't routed through the coax, they are
entirely different types of signal.

Any particular reason why building the part would cause this problem
but buying it wouldn't?

Ken Weitzel wrote:

Hi...

Fashioned a new coax jack from a connector and a twist tie for the
center pin? Don't understand what the twist tie does, but I'm scared

Start by getting ahold of a proper connector, and installing it
properly.

Then try it again.

Take care.

Ken