BNCconnectors

[Gryphon]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RATCHET-F-BNC-...SwHnFVylIl

Thanks for that link - that looks a very useful tool. I might have a dabble in one of those.

After many years of swearing at soldered BNC inner pins, the method I settled on, quite some time ago now, is to use a small bench vice to hold the pin steady.  One of the pattern which clamps over the edge of the bench is ideal.  This gives you back a hand, which is the secret to taking the pain out of the process.

Nearly the same effect can be achieved, in principle, using a large pair of pliers and a spring clamp, at the risk of the spring clamp flying all over the maintenance room at the least convenient moment.  This can quite spoil one's day.  The bench vice doesn't move about, though.

Get a piece of printer paper and cut out a rectangle about 1" x ¼"  Fold it in half across the short dimension.  Put the pin into the fold and clamp the resulting assembly in the vice.  The paper provides enough thermal insulation to ensure that the vice doesn't heatsink the pin.

The hole in the middle of the pin where the inner goes is very inviting, and it's tempting to fill this up with solder.  However, if you have the right size pin for the cable (and, as others have said, this is essential), if you tin the inner of the coax thoroughly, this ought to provide enough solder for a good joint.  This sounds flaky, but I must have made several thousand BNC ends over the years, and have not yet managed to make a dry joint on a pin.