MOTM

omg thanks so much for this info! you rule.
chris coady




________________________________
From: mkoapl <mkoapl@...>
To: motm@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, March 27, 2011 5:36:04 AM
Subject: [motm] Patch cable tips

  
I saw a great deal on Switchcraft 280 Phone Plugs. $1.59 each at music123.com, 
free shipping at any quantity.

I had already bought a hundred count of the Pomona 7150 from mouser.com 
(565-7150). I like them a lot. I am very surprised by the quality for this price 
($1.09 each). They are heavy and have a nice flat finish. Switchcraft 280's are 
bulkier and have a smoother assembly. I think the Pomona 7150's might be quicker 
to solder and to clamp the strain relief.

I've also had a chance to compare Canare GS-6 and Mogami W2524 bulk cable. The 
biggest difference is that the Canare shielding is braided and the Mogami 
shielding is spiral wound. The Mogami has better coverage and the shield is 
really easy to combine and twist. The Canare shielding has to be combed out; it 
does so easily, but it is a notably longer job. Both cables have a conductive 
carbon sleeve under the shield. This comes off really easily from the Canare 
cable but is really stubborn on the Mogami. My last note is that the Mogami 
cable is a displeasure to handle. The spiral shield is very noisy and grinds in 
your hand when jostling the cable. I settled on the Canare cable because i would 
be handling it frequently. I re-used the Mogami cable for permanent 
installations. Both cables have a nice, dense, smooth PVC jacket. They seem to 
be very resistant to kinking and memorizing bends. I like markertek.com for 
either cable, but ebay might be the place to go for a whole spool.

I use 1/2" 2:1 polyolefin heat shrink for color coding. I only use 2" per 
termination -- this shows about half an inch. If you use longer than this it 
makes the cable very stiff and protrusive. Using the 1/2" 2:1 creates a heavy 
finished sleeve, about 1mm thick. I go under the phone plug, but this size does 
fit over as well (which is also nice if you forget to get it on before you 
solder). I used Alpha Wire FIT-221-1/2. I also got a 100' spool of something 
else from bb-trading.com. Their prices were great but I couldn't afford those 
quantities for everything.

My previous set of patch cables were always unscrewing on me so I fixed those 
and finished off all my new ones with a bit of blue threadlocker.