Guide: How to fit an "F" connector

[Tesla]

How to fit an "F" connector

Connectors:

There are several different types of "F" connector available on the market, essentially you have a threaded screw-on connector (left) or crimp-on connector (right). The crimp connectors offer a more secure fit but require the purchase of an expensive crimper tool so not recommended if you only need to make one or two connections. There are different sized F connectors. The standard size is pictured below and designed to fit RG6 sized cable.

A lot of people are unsure how the screw-on F connector remains on the cable, you can see in this picture that the connector has an internal thread.

There are a wide range of add-on connectors available too. The above are the most commonly used, an F-Barrel (right) is very useful when extending cable runs. We also have male and female belling-lee type which can be used when making up interconnect fly leads. Or perhaps from a TV outlet wall socket to TV.



Cable:

The cable I have used in this demonstration is Webro WF100. An excellent foam-dielectric cable with excellent screening properties. You can see in the picture that you have the outer insulation, inner copper insulation, copper foil layer, foam dielectric and finally the inner copper core. This is the cable which I would recommend using if you are extending any cables or making up your own interconnects.

 

[Tesla]

Tools:

There are several fancy stripping tools available on the market. I have never found any of them to be flawless so for this guide I have stuck with using a knife. The yellow tool is a pair of sharp cutters, blunt cutters will crush the cable before cutting through it so make sure they are nice and sharp. The other tool is a crimper, not required when using screw-on connectors.



Method:

1)

First, make an incision through the outer insulation only all the way round the cable, around 7.5-10mm from the end of the cable.


2)

Now, pull the small piece of cut away insulation away from the end of the cable. Do not worry if a few of the outer copper strands come away with it. However, if the majority of copper strands also come away then you have cut into the cable too deeply and should chop this part of cable off and start again.


3)

Next fold back all of the outer copper strands.

 

[Tesla]

4)

Cut through the copper foil and foam dielectric (not the copper core though!). Do not cut it flush with the level of the outer insulation, leave a small piece of foam protruding, the foil is still intact around this small piece of protruding foam too (it makes fitting crimp connectors easier if you leave the foil in place but is not essential for screw-on connectors). I like to leave a little bit of foam protruding as when the connector is screwed onto the back of say a satellite STB this small piece of foam compresses against the socket making a really secure connection.


5)

Place the screw-on connector over the end of the cable.


6)

Screw the connector on, it will get tight but keep going. I find it easier if i pinch the cable just below the connector to stop it from flexing/twisting.
Screw on until that small piece of foam we left protruding above pokes through the connector by about 2mm.
If you have any copper outer strands showing you can carefully trim them off.


Crimp Connector

The crimp connector is very similar to the above, although not threaded it does require a bit of rotation/screwing when pushing onto the cable as it is such a tight fit. You then use the crimp tool to squash the connector onto the cable, if crimping make sure you use the correct sized crimper for the connectors you have purchased, I have seen badly crimped connectors on many occasion.



Note:

If you have any suggestions on improving this guide or my method then please do not hesitate to get in touch. I hope this proves useful to some of you guys.


If you would like to reproduce any of this guide or use the images then please ask before doing so.


Thanks,

Chris

 

[zealot]

Good guide most useful would normally buy the cable instead of making my own. handy if you've ever used televes line of aerials.

 

[Begbie]

nice one, can see this being useful for some folk!

 

[Shimmyhill]

Doing guides is a good idea. Could you do the cat 5 speaker cable next in the same style ? I find the guides on the net to be confusing.

Ohh and get a light box as it will help with the pictures no end !

 

[Kol]

Good guide. I remember back when my old man taught me how to do it. When you know how to do it, it's simple, but when you don't, the few stages between stripping and twisting on can be confusing, that is, what you keep and what you fold etc.

 

[hardc0re_tid]

when i tried it the screw-on ones cracked on me, ok it was a hairline crack but i wouldnt have thought that it would

 

[Tesla]

when i tried it the screw-on ones cracked on me, ok it was a hairline crack but i wouldnt have thought that it would

They should not crack but I have seen it before with REALLY cheapo connectors.