MOTM

>With coax, I strip and tin each coax lead, twisting
>the shield braid into a lead, and adding a short
>pigtail to fit the PC hole if necessary. I'll use the
>stronger outer braid to hold the cable to the board,
>then solder the inner conductor.  It's made much
>easier if the pads to be soldered to are tinned, as
>well; this minimizes the need for heat, and cold
>solder joints.

I always have trouble getting the braid in the hole in the first place as
there's always a stray wire that escapes (especially if the hole isn't
quite big enough--PCB designers take note, I've had to re-drill for
RG-174/U more than once). That's why I tin the braid first. I didn't make
that clear in my first reply--I use a heatsink while I'm *tinning* the
braid. After that it goes right in the hole (it'll now fit a surprisingly
small hole) and a quick touch is all that's needed to solder it.
Furthermore, the braid is now solid and holds the cable up off the board,
which takes a lot of the stress off the inner wire, minimizing breakage.

Tinning the board is, of course, always a good idea.

I also broke down and bought a little coax stripper (the one from Radio
Shack that looks like a piece of Meso-American sculpture done in black
plastic), which saves time and hassle when you're soldering lots of coax.
Makes building stuff less of a drag and reduces the stupid mistakes you
make when you're in a hurry to get the damn thing working, plus your work
looks more professional.


>For switches, I get out the X-Acto (hobby) knife, and
>scrape the oxidation from the solder lugs - gently,
>until they're shiny again.  Then, a quick tinning of
>the lugs.  The resultant solder joint will easily hold
>the wire and lug together without a great deal of
>heat, and will produce a nice, shiny fillet.  Works
>great with potentiometer lugs/pins, too!

I've had this problem with tiny toggle switches, too. A few seconds with
the Weller WTCP and the plastic starts to deform! Cleaning/tinning sounds
like an good idea.


>As a side note, I usually tin the IC pads on my
>boards, as well.  Even when just inserting sockets
>(which, as I'm sure you know, are also
>heat-sensitive), it makes a nice, clean joint, and
>helps to avoid solder bridges between pads.

With my luck I'll end up with holes full of solder. The WTCP works wonders.

I had a batch of socket once that wouldn't take solder. The plating came
off when you heated them!

-- 
Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"