25 Jan
2007
25 Jan
'07
4:54 a.m.
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Well, now he can look though the Paladin and Greenlee dies too *grin*
One thing I really like about the GMP tool is the single die. Since it
only has one part that needs to be changed, its very handy and take up
little room in the leather holster. The plastic kit case is pretty massive
though.
The AMP tool does use two dies, but they drop into the top of the tool and
there is only one small screw to hold the captive die. I actually prefer
the older AMP tool frame though. The older AMP frame handles were made by
Sargent Tools, but after Tyco bought AMP, they switched to a different
handle design that is harder to squeeze. I've resorted to combing eBay
Tothwolf wrote:
> If you think the Ideal Crimpmaster was expensive though, these are what
> I'm currently using:
The prices are
fairly average, sometimes you can find them for $10-20
less for the tools, though I've yet to find the AMP dies for less than
$35-40 retail. I still need to buy a long body plug die for my AMP
tools as I have a couple boxes of AMP long body plugs that I found
surplus last year that I can't yet put to use.
That's actually not that bad. My brother paid $350 for my Ideal
Crimpmaster set. He got me *all* of the available dies. It was a
*really* nice gift. I've saved a small fortune on BNC-terminated A/V
cables alone. from time to time for the older frames to keep spare
parts on hand.
When it comes to coax dies, I do still use my Paladin 8000 frames for
those, though not as much as I used to for F connectors. These days I'm
mostly using Thomas & Betts Snap-n-Seals and use the SNSIT for bulk RG6
connector installs as it has a ratchet. For one offs, I carry a SNSUTL
tool for RG6 as well as a L3011B for RG11 drops. These tools are made by
Sargent Tools for Thomas & Betts, so you can often find the Sargent
branded tools for far less than those rebranded for T&B. My favorite coax
strippers for these connectors are currently the CablePrep CPT-6590
(RG59/RG6) and CPT-1100 (RG11). I have some other CablePrep CPT tools, but
those are the two I use the most.
For linear compression type BNCs and RCAs, I use a Paladin Tools 1555
SealTite Pro. Its fully adjustable and will handle pretty much any brand
or style of connector, but I find it especially useful for linear
compression BNC and RCA connectors.
I keep thinking about buying a set of Canare tools, but so far the price
tag has kept me away. I haven't had any requests for Canare connectors
yet, but I expect someone will want them eventually.
-Toth