When soldering, I tried holding it steady, but was not terribly
successful doing this with my two hands (no clamp). My soldering
technique would be ok, but I have a crappy iron which translates into
frustrating work (I have better tools, but I was just using what was
available at the time).

Try to clamp the device in a small vise or a "helping hands" type of holder. The
idea of soldering is to heat both the wire and the lug enough to allow the
solder to flow freely; the part melts the solder, not the iron. Also, some of
the lower cost RCA jacks and the like have a plated surface that resists
soldering. Sometimes it's necessary to file or scrape the surface to down to
good metal. Just takes a little practice. Good luck.

Alan Harriman


The 'chain link' effect makes for a weak solder join. Any suggestions
on what could improve the join prior to soldering?

Cheers,
Dave