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Been crimping coax ends wrong for 6 years - strip gauge saved me

I always just eyeballed how much to strip off the coax before putting the connector on. Last week a customer in Denver complained about signal loss and I spent 2 hours troubleshooting before pulling out a strip gauge from my old Klein kit. Turns out I was taking off about 3/8 inch too much every single time. Has anyone else found that one simple tool or habit completely changed their install quality?
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wright.leo
Strip gauge is one of those things you don't think you need until you use it. Had the same problem myself back when I started doing installs. Eyeballing it worked fine for a while, but signal issues kept popping up in certain spots. Bought a cheap strip gauge off Amazon after a coworker recommended it. Night and day difference. Connectors seat perfectly now and I don't have to redo ends nearly as often. It's honestly saved me time and money dealing with callbacks.
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the_oliver
@kai_chen2 ever try a Klein after that cheap one, or did you stick with what works?
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kai_chen2
kai_chen23d ago
Dude I heard Klein makes a decent one, might grab it.
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