TIL I was installing my coax connectors backwards for 3 years

Was troubleshooting a garbled signal on a Garmin GNS 430 and a senior tech watched me for 30 seconds before pointing out I had the center pin facing the wrong way. Anyone else figure out a basic thing way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

hugos461mo ago

Laughing at charles cause I did the exact same thing with the clip logic. Had a buddy who installed cable TV for a living and he caught me on a quick job at my place. He stopped me mid-crimp and just stared at me. Said I was making his eye twitch. I had been screwing up every coax connection in my house for like 4 years and never noticed because most of them still kinda worked. The only time it really bit me was when I tried to run a long cable from the living room to the garage and the signal just died at like 40 feet. Once I flipped that pin around it worked perfect. Made me wonder how many other little things I've been doing backwards my whole life without knowing.

phoenix5731mo ago

Wait, which way is the center pin supposed to face? I always thought it pointed toward the cable, but now I'm second guessing every connector I've ever touched.

charles_young921mo ago

Honestly, the 'center pin faces the cable' thing is exactly what I thought too for years. I had this whole system where I'd line them up based on which way the clip went, and I never even questioned it. Ngl, reading your post and thinking about it makes me realize I might have been doing it wrong this whole time. Tbh I'm gonna have to go check every connector I've got now because you just shook my confidence.