PE45114 crimp positioner ???

[coppercone2]

I have a AFM8 eq crimp tool (mini). The instructions for PE45114 say you can crimp it, its 316DS cable, with 0.02 inch core

I think the setting is for 24 AWG.

But what crimp positioner do you use?

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/pasternack/PE45114/21356559

[radar_macgyver]

You can buy the adjustable positioner for one-offs like this. I found that having one for my AF8 and AFM8 helped a lot.

[coppercone2]

yeah I thought about MAKING one with a micrometer last night!

And is it 24 AWG? I read that people say its 26 AWG for RG316 but I measure 24 AWG?! And the 26AWG smashed the first one. It broke the crimp in half on 26AWG setting.

[radar_macgyver]

I went back and checked the DS, the spec is for a hex crimp tool. The AFM8 is a quad-indent style, so it may damage the pin when used (or worse, get damaged - if you have a gauge I would check the crimper to verify). The de-facto hex crimper is the Daniels HX4. The JR Ready version is the YJQ-W5. You would need to get the appropriate die for a 0.151" hex (Y138, or M22520/5-37). Other crimp vendors make hex crimpers too, though I'm not as familiar with their part numbering.

[coppercone2]

wait what you can do a hex center pin?


I mean the gold bit. It says solder/crimp. It does not say what kind. Typically those pin you indent crimp. I had RG151? hardline that I used the indent crimp on for a SMA connector center pin before.

 I have the 151 hex crimper for the outside sleeve

I guess hex crimping such a tiny pin WOULD be cool, but I never saw a tool that small??

[coppercone2]

PE45114 BNC male coaxial connector has an interface type of RG316-DS, RG188-DS and a 50 Ohm impedance. Pasternack BNC male connector uses shield/contact crimp/crimp as an attachment method. Our male BNC coaxial connector provides a minimum frequency of DC and a maximum frequency of 3 GHz.

[radar_macgyver]

You're right - it has been a long day.

However, hex crimp for center pins do exist, for example I use Amphenol 112512 BNC connectors for RG316-DS. The spec for these is a 0.178" sleeve crimp, and 0.068" contact crimp. This may not work for your case depending on the OD of the center contact. In fact, most coax connectors I use have a center hex crimp, with a few exceptions that specify soldering.

I measured the OD of an Amphenol 112512, it comes out to 0.083" (2.12mm). If that matches the OD of the Pasternack part, you may be able to use a 0.068" crimp for the contact.

[coppercone2]

No its like 0.058 

I think 1 setting  on the DMC (messes up at 26 so 24) higher might work but really if I have to guess I would rather solder it, crimps are no good if you have to guess

[radar_macgyver]

Yeah in this case you don't have much to lose by soldering, since RG316 uses PTFE dielectric and isn't going to melt when you solder.

[tooki]

wait what you can do a hex center pin?


I mean the gold bit. It says solder/crimp. It does not say what kind. Typically those pin you indent crimp. I had RG151? hardline that I used the indent crimp on for a SMA connector center pin before.

 I have the 151 hex crimper for the outside sleeve

I guess hex crimping such a tiny pin WOULD be cool, but I never saw a tool that small??

The official crimp tools (and many generic ones) often have them in the same tool — bigger hex for the ferrule, little tiny hex for the pin.

[coppercone2]

i saw the little thing but its too big for this

[tooki]

yeah I thought about MAKING one with a micrometer last night!

And is it 24 AWG? I read that people say its 26 AWG for RG316 but I measure 24 AWG?! And the 26AWG smashed the first one. It broke the crimp in half on 26AWG setting.

The indenter (selector) settings for a given gauge are not the same for all contacts. It depends on the wall thickness of the contact, too.

What selector setting did you use?



Let’s figure out the AWG first:
The diameter of the inner conductor is 0.51mm, which matches 24AWG solid wire. But it’s stranded, and AWG for stranded is calculated by cross-sectional area, so go down one size, and you get 26AWG. But that’s a ballpark.

Technically speaking, the inner conductor is not specified as an AWG at all. The military standard that actually defines the construction (PDF attached) specifies 7 strands of silver-coated copper clad steel, each strand 0.0067” diameter. (0.0067” is halfway between 33 and 34AWG.)

If we calculate the cross-sectional area of each strand we get 0.000035 in². Multiply that times 7 and we get a total cross sectional area of 0.000245 in², which is just shy of 25AWG (0.000251 in²).

With that said, since it is steel wire, not copper, I would probably err on the side of rounding up instead of down, for the purposes of crimping, especially in light of you having cracked a contact.



Now let’s find the selector setting:
As I said, the setting depends on wire size and contact design. A thick-wall contact needs a different setting than a thin-wall one. So we can’t blindly copy the settings from one positioner to other contacts.

Absent guidance from the manufacturer, the best we can do is try to find similar contacts and see what they use, then experiment.

The K13-1 positioner (which is really common, since it’s used for D-sub contacts) lists (now obsolete, standards unavailable) coaxial contacts, with RG316 listed in the supported cables. It suggests selector 4 for those.

I checked a few more positioners for RG316, and they used selector 4, 3, or 2. So as you can see, it really depends on the contact.

For what it’s worth, I crimped some similar BNC pins not too long ago and I’m pretty sure I used selector 4, maaaybe 3.