Micro HD Antenna connector spins

[Pittsville]

I love the Micro HD and I take it everywhere I go. (to the garage, and back to the house), but I think the practice of connecting it and disconnecting it multiple times has caused a problem.

A few days ago the thing that sticks out the back that the antenna connects to started spinning and the solder connection broke. I don't ever use a wrench or anything else to connect the coax to the receiver. I found that the body of the connector is crimped into a little silver box. I think part of the problem is that torque is created when the receiver is moved with a coax connected to it, and that puts a strain on the crimp.

I resoldered the connector but that didn't solve the spinning problem because of the crimp being loose. To try to put a washer and nut on from the outside would pull the connector out of the box because there is a small gap between the circuit board, and the housing of the receiver. I put a nut and washer on the inside to take up that space and a nut on the outside to tighten it somewhat so it won't spin as long as I am very careful about how I handle it, and connect it.

Most people aren't as destructive as I am, but I just wanted to let you know not to allow the coax to put any stress on the connector when you are handling the receiver. But you probably already knew that.

 

[rv1pop]

I often use a 2 to 3 foot whip on my conectors for that reason. My most versatile TV has that same problem but the case is welded or glued so I can not fix it. I hope it holds for you on the HD.

 

[Anole]

I just took mine apart to have a look.

It might be possible to use a large-tip 100 watt iron and solder the connector to the metal shell/shield, as well as to the circuit board from below.
Melting the insulator inside the connector, would be one of the obstacles.

Any sort of small tip or low powered iron or gun would NOT work, and only damage the connector!
Anyone not experienced in such repairs might damage more than the connector!
I haven't done such a repair in decades, and would make several practice runs before touching my receiver.

A better approach might be to replace the connector with a bulkhead-mount model.
They have a square flange with four holes for screws to secure the connector to a chassis.
I don't have one on hand, but I think the flange is too large to fit, and would have to be ground or filed down.
Might be something to explore.

For any piece of test equipment which is moved a lot and disconnected repeatedly, I would use the push-on adapters.
Screw them onto your coax, then just push the adapter onto the rear of the receiver.
They can wear or get loose, but as long as they are in good repair, they'll prevent damage to the receiver.

And listen to whatever advice the manufacturer has to offer! :up

 

[SatelliteAV]

Over the years I have repaired hundreds of receivers from a dozen brands with spun f-fittings. Usually tack the f-fitting to the tuner housing with a hot iron and make sure the fitting does not overheat and damage the insulation. This is the most common receiver damage as most newbies don't feel that the the finger tightening is adequate. I understand that this is not the case on your STB, but the f-fitting still takes a lot of abuse.

On all bench STBs we keep 6" jumpers with a barrel for the 10 - 20 connect / disconnects per day. I usually stay away from F-fitting push-ons as repeated use tends to damage the pinch point of the female connector.

 

[Corrado]

I also use short USB extensions to reduce wear and tear on the receiver USB port itself.

I added a short coax cable when I first got the microHD over a year ago because the receiver was so light, the weight of the connected switches and cables kept pulling the box off the shelf out of sight.

 

[Tron]

Another connector type that is easily damaged (and not so easily repaired) is HDMI. I always use 'port saver' connectors on these ports to reduce tension.

 

[Cham]

Is there a smaller diameter 75 ohm feedline available for use as a jumper? I have some very small 50 ohm cable I use for portable radio jumpers, think it's RG-174. A foot of this type of cable would not introduce significant loss and would be very flexible so to minimize physical stress on the device connector. Just need to find the F-connector that would fit!