Fitting PL259 connections for antenna

Keep the earthed outer well clear of the inner copper wire and solder the earthed outer at the plug

If it is the twist on type of plug......
strip about 4cm of outer black insulation off the cable, be careful not to nick the braid. Then slide the braid back along the inner conductor and using some side cutters cut the braid short until you have a rough length of 5 to 8mm of braid. Fold this braid back over the outer sleeve of the cable. This will form a thread inside the plug a little later, it doesn't need to be too long. The longer it is the harder it is to screw it into the plug!!
Strip the inner conductor leaving about 10mm of insulation, be careful as pulling the insulation off can also make the inner conductor pull out from the cable. I usually tin the inner conductor with a soldering iron and solder, just to make sure there are no 'whiskers' of wire that can short out inside the plug.
Unscrew the locking ring off the plug and slide it onto the cable FIRST, making sure you get it the right way around...
Then, carefully insert the cable into the plug and screw it into place. The thread inside the plug forms a thread on the braid, this makes a solid contact between the plug and braid. Don't screw the cable all the way in as then you will short out the braid against the centre pin of the plug!!!
Trim the centre conductor flush with the end of the centre pin and solder. You don't need much solder, and don't apply too much heat... some plugs have a plastic insulator that can melt with excess heat!
After is has been left to cool a little, slide the locking ring to the plug and screw it back into place. If you have a multimeter, make sure you don't have a short circuit, taking into account that some antennas normally measure a short circuit!!
I have been meaning to take some photos of plug assembly and post them in my webspace, I hope the above gives you some idea of what to do....

Hi...
If you or a friend has a current copy of the 2005/2006 Dick Smith Catalogue, there is a step by step description including diagrams on page 351.
It shows how to wire the popular RF plugs inc PL259.
Or it's on their web site :
www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.filereader?435aec5b065e7878273fc0a87f9c06ea+EN/catalogs/SUP0001869
Regads
Neil

I have discovered a shocker of a PL259 connector, which a friend fitted to his rig. The cable is just snipped off square, the centre pin of the connector has a spike which shoves back under the dielectric and makes contact with the inner conductor. A grub screw in the side of the connector screws in to make contact with the braid (a small nick is made in the insulation so the grub screw can connect.
This sort of connector should be thrown out, and a proper one as described above used. Apart from the chance of the braid touching the inner (which this one did), the performance at UHF would be abysmal. And there is no strain relief.
Having said all that, if you have an ohm meter, check that the inner hasn't shorted thru to the outer once you put it all together.
Gerry