On Sun, 19 Jan 2014 20:35:10 -0800, Bob E. wrote:
Thank you for disclosing what you're trying to accomplish. Context is
always important.
You're going to have corrosion problems.
Continuing disclosu it's indoors, wall-mounted.
Ok. You won't need to deal with anti-corrosion precautions.
If you have a PCB, why not use a PCB mounted F connector?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111244951312
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261373960762
It was my call (based on almost no RF expertise) that any solder connection
was much better than the best crimp and that crimps are used strictly for
convenience. I'm beginning to doubt these presumptions...
I consider crimping better than soldering mostly because soldering
requires some skill, but crimping can be learned by almost anyone.
With ratcheting crimpers, it is possible to guarantee that the degree
of compression is both sufficient and uniform. Crimp and compression
connectors also will survive the SCTE IPS-TP-401 40 lb pull test,
while soldered connectors often fail this test. In general, crimp and
compression connectors are much better at keeping water out. I've
seen much better reliability after switching to crimp type connectors.
They're also cheaper. I can't think of a single advantage to soldered
RF connectors.
It would be helpful if you could provide any markings on your cable so
that it can be identified.
http://www.cables.com/Products/92003.aspx
Bingo. Aluminum braid over aluminum foil shield. You can't solder to
the aluminum. Find a different cable with a copper braid (or use a
connector as I previously suggested).
PS, a police helicopter just flew over the neighborhood at a few hundred
feet. The digital channel I was watching blanked out completely. This at
about 50 miles from the broadcast site, as the crow files (Sutro Tower).
Can I guess(tm)? I don't think the helicopter is large enough to
complete block out the signal unless the TV station signal strength
from Mt Sutro to your PCB antenna is rather weak. That's about what I
would expect at 50 miles with a small PCB TV indoor antenna. Digital
is ummm... digital and tends to deliver either a very good picture, or
nothing. At 50 miles, I would have recommended a bigger, better and
possibly amplified (to compensate for the coax cable losses) antenna.
You might want to check your location with:
http://www.tvfool.com
to see if the indoor PCB antenna is adequate, and if a bigger antenna
will be of any benefit. Otherwise, the police helicopter might have
been transmitting video on some frequency to the ground which
overloaded your TV receiver front end.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558