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Strike a Solder Joint Behind Enemy Lines
- flobosg 6y agoThis is similar to solder seal wire connectors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGKsXSiFww4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGKsXSiFww4
- redis_mlc 6y agoGreat link. You know, that would be a great way to fix most intermittent headphone problems, where you mainly need a strong mechanical result as much as the electrical connection.
- pugworthy 6y agoI can't be the only person who read this as, "Strike a Soldier Behind Enemy Lines"
- knodi123 6y agoI think it was an intentional bit of playful language.
- jakear 6y agoMy initial parse made me think it was something about a particular type of weed-cigarette soldiers used behind enemy lines.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- metrokoi 6y agoI thought it would be about how to solder/desolder behind/under components.
- willcipriano 6y agoMy thought was a way to clandestinely destroy enemy electronics.
- DavidSJ 6y agoI’ve now read the title three times, and each time I’ve made the same mistake.
- bigdict 6y agoI can smell it from here.
- jasonjayr 6y agoReminds me of rail road thermite welding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uxsFglz2ig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uxsFglz2ig
- metrokoi 6y agoWhat would actual use case for this look like? The post mentions communication, but the usefulness of laying communication lines behind enemy lines seems like it would be minimal. Lines would be easily discovered and would lead right back to the spy or scout. The other use could be for demolition which I could see, but if I were a saboteur I would just twist the lines together as it's very temporary and time is of the essence.
- sandworm101 6y agoScout positions have hidden antennas. Demolition charges. Also probably useful in cold/windy areas where dexterity is hard.
- metrokoi 6y ago>Also probably useful in cold/windy areas where dexterity is hard. Excellent point, hadn't thought of that.
- fortran77 6y agoThese were usually used at the front lines, to communicate with people stationed a little further back. Radio signals can be detected and eavesdropped, especially in WWII days.
- redis_mlc 6y agoIt's not well-known, but the British tracked the Germans down to the unit level using radio transmission triangulation, and plotted their positions across Europe on giant maps. Even without decrypting signals, they knew a great deal. The Germans were the first army to have radio on every vehicle, sometimes 3 for higher ranks. It was handy on the go, but leaked intelligence like a sieve when stationary for days, and the Germans were overconfident in its secrecy. The British were warned of air raids even before takeoff because German pilots followed a procedure of testing their radio on the ground. The mastermind behind the British effort built a similar system, but global, for the US, after WW2. SR-71 flights initially used radios, but since Russian "trawlers" were tracking the broadcasts, later flights, including multiple refuelings, were done in radio silence.
- doodlebugging 6y agoI've used a similar technique I learned in the oilfield. To solder a splice - 1) strip both conductors to be soldered about 1/2" and form a loop on one. 2) Stick the second conductor through the loop formed in the first and bend a loop around to join the wires. 3) Cut or break about 1/2" of solder/flux and lay on something flat, clean, and hard - 2 out of 3 is good enough here. 4) Use a hammer, flat rock, end of pocketknife, etc to flatten the solder until it is about 1/8" wide and maybe twice as long. 5) Wrap the flattened solder around the loops so that the join is covered by solder. 6) Strike a match, use a lighter, a torch, etc to melt the solder and flux into the joint. 7) Cover with weather-tight electrical tape and go on about your business. It never failed for me.
- ip26 6y agoHere I thought step six was going to be something like short circuit the wire with ten thousand amps and let it solder itself.
- winrid 6y agoEasier than crimping or just preference? I know some fields require friction fit, some require soldering. In automotive we use friction fittings (screws, crimps) due to vibrations cracking solder.
- NovemberWhiskey 6y agoA good crimp is more than a friction fit: it will be gas-tight and mechanically stronger than a soldier joint. It’s practically a “cold weld”.
- imglorp 6y agoSome aerospace applications required wire wrap for a long while because of its better vibration resistance vs solder. There were square profile bonding posts around which wire was tightly wound for a half dozen turns or so. The sharp edges of the post would thus make 24 points of contact, also biting through surface oxidation.
- 6y ago
- ddrt 6y agoIs this a rap lyric somehow?
- praptak 6y agoThere's a similar technique used in plumbing when you need to solder together two pipes. There's a pre-made fitting (H cross section) which has solder rings inside. You press the pipes in and heat it until the solder comes out on both ends. The technique needs an external source of heat but that's not generally a problem in civilian plumbing.
- zem 6y agothat sounds like it should be a cryptic crossword clue (:
- nickcw 6y agoWhen I was at school I was in the combined cadet force, and being interested in electronics I gravitated to Signals as it was known. On exercises it was our job to provide communications and quite often we would lay miles of copper wires in the woods for the field telephones and join the wires together with these devices. The black powder is some kind of thermite I think - lighting it would melt the solder in the copper tube, you'd push the copper wires you'd pre stripped into it and you'd hold it long enough for it to solidify, which was sometimes long enough to burn your fingers! In the UK in the 80s the CCF had lots of surplus WW2 equipment. Beautiful valve radios and classic 303 rifles!
- 4gotunameagain 6y agoThermite burns at around 2500 °C, copper melts at 1085 °C. Solder melts at around 190 °C, and gunpowder burns at around 130 °C. I believe that it quite improbable that it was thermite, probably gunpowder with some additives (maybe a pinch of magnesium?)
- ip26 6y agoNow that's a type of fusible link I'd never seen before.