I really need to get all that sorting sorted out ...
![Confused :-//](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/confused0024.gif)
But I can't put up my new TE for the photo shoots until I'm mostly done. There simply isn't any space left. Sorting and neat packaging ought to give me a back a little. At least that's the plan.
Today I took care of the other end of 4 mm connections - the jacks. Until now, I had a box with the contacts and one with the sheaths. With the new arrivals, the total number has about quadrupled, so I decided to separate into bins by color.
First, however, I had to remove the left-over wire pigtails sticking out from behind (most of them are used ones). This in turn necessitates pulling of the sheath from the center piece (stud? - I'll use that from now on), a terrible job.
About half of them had the wires soldered to the studs, as it is exceptionally easy to loose the worm screws: with thick wires you need to unscrew them until they (almost) fall out. And the guys making those cables couldn't be bothered looking for the lost screw, it seems.
But even if you don't loose them, they easily break owing to the slit head. Hirschmann also makes genuine solder studs, however (hope my cheap camera shows enough detail):
![](https://i.imgur.com/131sW5t.jpg)
Now, heating up the studs takes time and a bit of force, so the thing should be held securely without sinking ever more heat. When I was almost done, I had the right idea. Why did it take so long? Oh dear oh dear. I built this little helper about 40 years ago (the german electronics magazine 'ELO' proposed such a thing), and it is still my favorite 3rd hand. But it never occurred to me that an extremely simple modification, courtesy of a 4 mm drill, would make my life so much easier. Until today. And since the chuck of my drill press wouldn't let me bore the holes where I wanted them, I just made a new one. Dead simple, but extremely handy for soldering those 4 mm connectors!
![](https://i.imgur.com/RflCEwK.jpg)
Now all is sorted out, but of course there's the recurring problem: How can I shrink it such that it fits into a 6x4 box (the yellow ones are 2x1)? Too big by 10 unit squares.
![Face Palm :palm:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/facepalm.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/YvasiIL.jpg)
Guess that means another box with the leftover sockets from Thursday to go into backing storage.
![Banging Head |O](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/bangheadonwall.gif)
Somehow I'm a bit reluctant to buy any new 4 mm connectors.
![Roll Eyes ::)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif)