OJT - things you learned worth passing along

[Bill_G]

So, we all learn stuff that should be passed along. A short list of mine as I recall them - add your own.

You know those alcohol covid wipes we have an abundance of now? They are great for cleaning off the grease used in gel filled cable. IE: flooded armored CAT5 for tower work and direct burial. Cleans it right up.

Butyl tape to weather proof unistrut screws. You need to attach a couple pieces of unistrut to a steel sided building so you can mount a pipe mast for an antenna. How do you prevent water leaks around the screws you drill in? If you're like me, you have a lifetime supply of butyl tape from ground kits. Unroll a piece of butyl on the back side of the unistrut. Smash it down good so it sticks, but leave the paper on until you ready to hang the piece. Break out your measuring tape and bubble level, set your marks, remove the paper from the tape, and press the piece to the wall. Usually it will stick good enough to get a couple screws set through the tape. But, don't bottom them out yet. Set several screws, and then tighten them up evenly. The butyl will compress. The screw already dragged some butyl into the hole when it got driven in, and a bunch of it wound around the screw shaft. Now it will flatten out under the washer, and stop any leaks.

 

[cyrus]

I knew a satellite dish installer who used roofing tar in a similar manner. He would dip the screws in the tar before driving them in. Kind of messy but it seemed to work.

 

[Bill_G]

I knew a satellite dish installer who used roofing tar in a similar manner. He would dip the screws in the tar before driving them in. Kind of messy but it seemed to work.

That's because the f*ckers would mount their pedestal *ON* the roof. They never seemed to notice they could get a J wall mount that attached to the wall under the eaves. But, that's what you get for fifty bucks.

 

[cyrus]

In my case it was the chimney. A wall mount wouldn't clear the trees on the property.

 

[WQNV648]

That's because the f*ckers would mount their pedestal *ON* the roof. They never seemed to notice they could get a J wall mount that attached to the wall under the eaves. But, that's what you get for fifty bucks.

PrimeStar installers were the worst offenders of this back in the 1990s. I swear they only would install if you had a California type roof...

 

[Navy_BOFH]

This one is for APX RM - but I think applies for other RM products:

Those people who have issues getting it to connect half the time, or ever... most connection issues come down to a LITTLE tiny addendum in the RM manual essentially stating that Windows needs to force port assignments for the RM software in a way which follows that the programmer expected it to do.

One of those "could be fixed by a single Powershell line during install" issues that seems to have never been addressed.

 

[mitaux8030]

Coax crimp connectors: when assembling, if you're having trouble pushing up the ferrule to the connector body - usually only a problem with double / triple braid cables - then make good use of the crimper jaws - close the jaws up over the coax sheath behind the ferrule and use it to push the ferrule over the braid with a light tapping motion. Once firmly seated and no protruding braid, release the crimper jaws, and then crimp the ferrule into position. And a pair of pointy flush cutters is ideal for trimming bits of braid that protrude before crimping the ferrule; pull the ferrule back slightly, trim, re-seat ferrule, crimp.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Finding nasty intermittent shorts and opens. Audibly...

Those shorts and opens, sometimes wiggle the needle on the VOM a bit, but never when you are looking at it, and not really enough to catch your attention.

Do you have one if those audio signal tracer amplifiers or a Radio Shack telephone amplifier with speaker? Attach the amplifier across your ohm meter terminals and clip the ohmeter to the circuit of interest. Turn up the volume.

Now go and scratch around that circuit board with an insulated probe, tapping parts . Or go twisting that wire loom behind the dashboard of your car.

Pretty soon you will hear those electrons making their escape under your fingers.

Some stuff I have fixed this way:

Drake TR7 radio with an eyelet touching a diode lead a factory error.

Ford Probe headlight motor circuit burning out headlamp switch. Chafed wiring behind moveable instrument pod. (trivia question , what european automobile of that era also had an instrument pod that moved up and down and had motorized headlamps? )

Hyundai SantaFe passenger side airbag electrical fault. Hyundai could not fix this one, once no trouble found, second time changed a fuse that wasn't blown for a $200 effort. It was poor soldering inside of the clock module where the passenger airbag off lamp is installed. Made a video, for the service manager and got my money back.

 

[Astro Spectra]

Don't rotate type-N or DIN connectors when mating them. Hold the plug and socket together once aligned and only rotate the coupling nut. Same with adapters. That way if the centre pin of the plug happens to be bent it doesn't spread out and wreck the centre of the socket.

While you might be easily able to replace a socket on a cable, wrecking the centre pin on something like a precision attenuator or piece of test equipment will make you unpopular. It always best to do a visual check as you might spot other issues, such as the centre pin pulled back in a plug, but a slightly bent pin isn't always obvious.

 

[Bill_G]

This one is for APX RM - but I think applies for other RM products:

Those people who have issues getting it to connect half the time, or ever... most connection issues come down to a LITTLE tiny addendum in the RM manual essentially stating that Windows needs to force port assignments for the RM software in a way which follows that the programmer expected it to do.

One of those "could be fixed by a single Powershell line during install" issues that seems to have never been addressed.

Do they discuss what instruction during installation would solve the issue?

 

[Bill_G]

Don't rotate type-N or DIN connectors when mating them. Hold the plug and socket together once aligned and only rotate the coupling nut. Same with adapters. That way if the centre pin of the plug happens to be bent it doesn't spread out and wreck the centre of the socket.

While you might be easily able to replace a socket on a cable, wrecking the centre pin on something like a precision attenuator or piece of test equipment will make you unpopular. It always best to do a visual check as you might spot other issues, such as the centre pin pulled back in a plug, but a slightly bent pin isn't always obvious.

Related to N, BNC, and TNC male connectors - they need to pass the target test. Press the connector end into the pad of your thumb. You should see a small circle with a distinct center dot like a target, and no blood. If you don't see a center dot, the pin is recessed, and if it's painful, it's too long.

 

[Bill_G]

Wall cores

You need to set a two inch sleeve and weatherhead in a concrete wall. You can either:

(A) be a real he man and hold that hammer drill in place. This is really good for your pecs and biceps. Rough on the back though.
OR
(B) make a L frame from unistrut to hold the core bit up, and all you have to do is lean into it.

Be sure to wear your P100 mask please. Concrete dust tastes bad, and paves your nose and lungs real good.

 

[CARC383]

That's because the f*ckers would mount their pedestal *ON* the roof. They never seemed to notice they could get a J wall mount that attached to the wall under the eaves. But, that's what you get for fifty bucks.

Yes it may be on the roof but their supposed to attach to the roof overhang and not penetrate the roof into an attic whenever possible. The DirecTV Slimline antenna is almost always used with the outrigger arms to make a tripod and that's strong enough to use as an engine hoist. A long time ago I was certified as a trainer for installers.

 

[CARC383]

I might add something after several long, successful and rewarding careers. When review time comes up with your boss, besides all the bullshit you put on the form to describe what you do like I install this or I repair that or or some other worthless tidbit, in a face to face meeting with the boss tell him your primary job above everything else is to relieve some burden from his plate and to make him look good to his boss. He will look at you much different from that point on and it may put you ahead of all the other schmucks in his mind.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Don't rotate type-N or DIN connectors when mating them. Hold the plug and socket together once aligned and only rotate the coupling nut. Same with adapters. That way if the centre pin of the plug happens to be bent it doesn't spread out and wreck the centre of the socket.

While you might be easily able to replace a socket on a cable, wrecking the centre pin on something like a precision attenuator or piece of test equipment will make you unpopular. It always best to do a visual check as you might spot other issues, such as the centre pin pulled back in a plug, but a slightly bent pin isn't always obvious.

Good point and sometimes very hard to keep the connector body from rotating. Was struggling with Bird wattmeter just the other day.

 

[Bill_G]

I might add something after several long, successful and rewarding careers. When review time comes up with your boss, besides all the bullshit you put on the form to describe what you do like I install this or I repair that or or some other worthless tidbit, in a face to face meeting with the boss tell him your primary job above everything else is to relieve some burden from his plate and to make him look good to his boss. He will look at you much different from that point on and it may put you ahead of all the other schmucks in his mind.

Similarly, this is your secondary task for a customer: To make them look good to their boss for hiring your company. Everybody has to make decisions. Don't make them wrong.

 

[kb4mdz]

Related to N, BNC, and TNC male connectors - they need to pass the target test. Press the connector end into the pad of your thumb. You should see a small circle with a distinct center dot like a target, and no blood. If you don't see a center dot, the pin is recessed, and if it's painful, it's too long.

(sorry for the almost double-quote)

I learned this 3rd hand from a friend who'd worked in a factory that was using lots of coaxial-N relays. They started having a high failure rate; traced it to the guy making N-male cables. His habit was to push the cable into the back side of the connector, by pushing into the front edge of the workbench. Which was wood. Which let the pin push out too far, which would damage the N-female on the relays. Which we all know how expensive coaxial relays are.

 

[CARC383]

(sorry for the almost double-quote)

I learned this 3rd hand from a friend who'd worked in a factory that was using lots of coaxial-N relays. They started having a high failure rate; traced it to the guy making N-male cables. His habit was to push the cable into the back side of the connector, by pushing into the front edge of the workbench. Which was wood. Which let the pin push out too far, which would damage the N-female on the relays. Which we all know how expensive coaxial relays are.

For random N connectors with no instructions or bumps in the center pin to click into a recess, I always use dial calipers to make sure the center pin is recessed the right amount. Its also good to eyeball the center pin to make sure its centered and concentric, with some stiff cables the pin can solder on crooked and end up bent inside the connector. That will not mate properly with the female connector and could damage the female socket. BNCs don't seem to have as much trouble with this, probably due to the smaller more flexible cable that will allow the center pin to center itself.

 

[CARC383]

I worked with a few mentally challenged individuals who would routinely shove a 50 ohm N male connector into a poor helpless 75 ohm female socket and completely rip her to pieces. I made up this chart to help show the differences and save a lot of repair $$, If you have both 50 and 75 ohm N connectors you might want to pass this around to your questionable co-workers.