The best solder? It doesn't matter. I use some cheap stuff I bought at
Radio Shack in the 1980's. You can use lead-free, if you want, but I
don't personally have any that's not ultra fine so getting enough solder
in the joint is a problem.
What matters is the iron.
You need to use iron that's a honking big piece of metal. You see, when
you touch the iron to the connector, it acts like a big heat sink, and
the temperature of the iron drops below the temperature of the solder.
You have to wait for it to heat up again, and the heat conducts into the
center insulation, melting it and ruining the coax. If you don't hold
it on long enough to melt the insulation, you don't get the connector
hot enough to be wetted by the solder. It'll kind of work because
there's some mechanical connection, but it's not really good.
Using a big iron makes it easy. I got one of those that is used to
solder stained glass, and it works all kinds of better for me than
anything else I've ever tried. Including my temperature-controlled
soldering station with the biggest tip I can get for it.
On 7/30/20 6:12 PM, Martin Blaise via BVARC wrote:
Just curious what is the best solder you have used on pl259
connectors? I ran out and can’t remember exactly what kind it was.
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--
Jonathan Guthrie
ARS KA8KPN
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