Amateur Radio

How-To

How to Install a PL-259 with Reducer

Tools In this guide I'm going to attach a PL-259 connector to RG-58 Coax, which requires a reducer. PL-259 connectors are designed for RG-8 style cable, which is quite a bit thicker. As a result, smaller size cables use a reducer that adapts the cable to the larger connector. You can use this as a basic guide for installing a PL-259 onto RG-8 but without the reducer. For this build you will need several tools some of which I have pictured to the left others I do not show. PL-259 Connector RG-58 Reducer RG-58 Coax Tape Measure or Ruler Rosin Core Solder Heavy Soldering Iron or Gun (100+ Watt recomended) Third Hand or Small Vice Utility Knife Wire Stripper
	Insert Reducer Before stripping the cable, the reducer must be placed on the cable. The larger end goes on first as this will become the back side of the connector.
Strip Cable Strip about One Inch of the outer jacket off of the cable. Use your Utility Knife to carefully score the jacket taking care to not damage the wire braid underneath.
	Spread Shield Braid Carefully spread the shield out so it will fold over the reducer. You may use a fine screwdriver, awl, scriber or tweezers to help you unbraid the cable.
Twist or Trim Braid You can either twist the braid (as pictured) or trim the braid to length. The Braid should be between the end of the outer jacket and not overlap with the screw threads on the reducer.
	Strip Center Conductor Strip off all but 1/8 Inch of insulator from the center conductor. Use caution to not damage the center conductor.
Align Connector Disassemble the PL-259 connector by twisting the outer ring off. Pictured to the rigth you can see the outer ring seperated from the connector.
	Place Ring on Coax Place the outer ring of the PL-259 connector over the reducer and onto the coax. Line up the center conductor to go through the center pin of the connector.
Insert Reducer and Coax Insert reducer and coax into the connector. You can see through one of the solder holes on the connector that the center conductor is straight and centered. If you twisted your wires as I did (or are using RG-8 Cable) you will need to twist the coax/reducer as you insert it into the connector. Do this by grabbing the large portion of the reducer with one hand and the connector with the other.
	Inspect In this picture you can see the connector and reducer have been screwed together, the center conductor is poking out the center pin, and you can see the shield wires through the solder holes.
Mount Connector Mount your connector in your Third Hand or Small Vice. We will be soldering the center pin first, so you will want the connector level or with the center pin aimed down slightly.
	Solder Center Connector Using your Soldering Iron or Gun, solder the center conductor into the connector. You don't want your solder to flow into the back of the connector, only close the pin fully. Soldering this properly will close the end of the connector preventing water from entering from the pin. Use Caution as you do not want to melt the center pin insulator as it can ruin the connector. Use only enough heat to make a good solder joint.
Cut Center Conductor Remove the connector from the Third Hand and trim the center conductor flush. Also inspect the insulator and ensure it has not been damaged from soldering.
	Mount Connector Replace connector in Third Hand with one of the holes facing up. Be sure your Third Hand is steady as you will be applying pressure to solder the shield.
Solder Shield Using your large soldering iron or gun, you will be soldering the shield. The trick here is to use a large iron with alot of mass so you can heat the connector up quickly without damaging the coax itself. You want the solder to flow down inside the connector so it makes good electrical contact. My soldering gun is not quite big enough to do this as well as I would like, but it does suffice. Solder each hole so it is closed and the solder has flowed well into the hole.
	Inspection Allow the connector to cool then remove it from your Third Hand. Inspect connector to make sure all solder joints are correct and the threads of the connector are clean. Now you can slide the outer ring onto the connector and screw it back into place.
Finished! Now you know how to solder on a PL-259 using a reducer.