Newbie to BNC and Antenna wiring?

[claycookiemonster]

I'm sure it's here somewhere. About to wire up Comm and Xpnder and GPS antennas and components. I could use a brief apprenticeship on the various cable and connector types as well as crimping and soldering to make the final runs. Can someone point me in the right direction?
Thanks.

 

[mburch]

How I do it: How to crimp BNC connectors

 

[HFS]

Check your PM's

HFS

 

[wirejock]

BNC

I've installed hundreds but not recently so I couldn't remember the dimensions for stripping the coax.
I found this guide from SteinAir perfect.
I do have jaws for crimping for my wratchet style crimper.
I prefer to heat the pin and wick in a tiny bit of solder through the witness hole. Cool then crimp. Pull test and assemble.
Important...the pin should click into position. If it doesn't check it out. Something is the wrong dimension.
Remember to slip the crimp collar and heat shrink on first!

A friend taught me a neat trick I've used forever to strip jacket off wires. Often the stripper will nick and cut braid or even nick the insulator when trimming the braid. Both can cause issues.
Take a new razor. Mark the cable. Bend it a little. Score lightly with the razor while holding the bend. The jacket will crack without touching the braid. Repeat around the jacket till it's completely separated then pull it off.

 

[AlpineYoda]

I agree with the above poster - the videos on the SteinAir website are terrific.

Quick cheatsheet - TNC means Threaded (screw on), BNC means Bayonet (slide on, then click in place). Seems basic enough, but it took me two years to figure that out.

A couple of suggestions - use a couple of layers of heat shrink tubing over the final crimps as strain relief. Everything vibrates in a plane. A little extra protection is a good idea.

Second, check that the center pin is long enough for good contact. I spent a week trying to figure out why my GTN650xi lost its GPS signal 15 hours into Phase 1 testing. Something vibrated just right and the pin was just barely making contact, then lost it.