said by InTHEKnow :Poor connectorization and inferior cables cause 95% or more of all problems in the cable plant. Crimp on connectors fall into the above category.
I could see why crimp-on connectors would be a problem. If you buy at Home Depot, you have to know what the "center of ferrule" is (note that "number two" in the picture is only the center of three segments that may or may not be considered the ferrule) and guess whether the connector is for quad shield or something less, and if you buy at Radio Shack, you have to guess whether the Radio Shack cable stripper will work. Here's a complaint that I tried sending to Radio Shack just as my time ran out on the library computer. I don't know if they received it, but I didn't receive an e-mail confirmation.
quote:
I bought a package of RadioShack RG-6 crimp-on connectors (278-0231) and a RadioShack cable stripper (278-248) that are supposed to work together, but they don't. The package of the stripper says "for use with RG-6" but the instructions inside say it only strips in lengths of 4, 6, 8, and 12mm, which isn't consistant with the connectors which require a 9.5mm cut exposing the wire, and a 3.2mm cut of the outter jacket and shield. I would like a refund, but I don't have the receipt for the stripper. This is false advertising.
I could make marks at the proper points on the cable and remove one of the cutters of the cable stripper, but then it wouldn't be worth $15 to me. It's supposed to be able to make both cuts at once, but there's no indication of whether the two blades could be moved close enough together for that. I'm going to use a hobby knife and lay some kind of spacers on the table to strip the cable.