Connectors: A History of Their Technology? 598
dpbsmith asks: "It seems like a simple engineering problem--construct a device for easily and safely connecting several dozen wires at the same time--but the variety and creativity in their design over the years has been amazing, and, clearly there have been trends, fashions, and styles. In the fifties and sixties, virtually all connectors were roughly similar to the D-Sub design used for RS-232. A stiff, straight pin engaged a springy socket that contacted and bore against it on all sides. There were minor variations in shape and placement; the Amphenol Blue Ribbons (think Centronics), the connectors into which circuit boards engaged, but they were all variations on a theme. I was absolutely astounded the first time I saw a modular RJ-11 connector. Cheap, effective, and utterly unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Who invented these? Western Electric? Recently, we have the USB connector and the Firewire connector, obviously members of the same family (and a cheap-and-cheesy-seeming family it seems); on the other hand, my telephone and my digital camera have connectors that are very small and snap in with a positive lock that must be released with a squeeze, obviously yet another fundamentally different design. What do people know about the design, history, and engineering behind connectors over the years? Is it all hidden away, trade secrets of the connector companies, or is their a story that can be told?"
The eternal question... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The eternal question... (Score:2, Informative)
designed for military system applications during World War II)
Re:The eternal question... (Score:5, Informative)
This was an easy find:
http://www.amphenolrf.com/products/bnc.asp
Re:(yes) Re:British Naval Connector? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The eternal question... (Score:2, Funny)
Yes I'm sure there's a Bulgarian Nympho Club, but thats beside the point.
Nope I just checked... (Score:2)
Yes I'm sure there's a Bulgarian Nympho Club, but thats beside the point.
I just checked on google. No Bulgarian Nympho Club. At least not on the web. Damn. I just posted to tell everyone to not get their priceline tickets to Bulgaria just yet.
Re:The eternal question... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The eternal question... (Score:2, Informative)
Several possiblilities are usually suggested as to the origin of the term BNC:
- British Naval Connector
- Bayonet Nut Connector
- Cayonet-Neill-Concelman (probably the correct explaination somce the connector was named after Neill and Concelman, its two creators)
[Encyclopedia of Networking, v2. Tulloch and Tulloch]
Re:The eternal question... (Score:2)
Re:The eternal question... (Score:2)
Re:The eternal question... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The eternal question... (Score:2)
This one has been debated for years, and was a thread in the letters column of an IEEE magazine. One claimant named Robert who worked for Amphenol said he designed it on his kitchen with his wife said they dubbed it "B.N.C." for "Bob and Nancy's Connector".
Most of the ones like "Bayonet Nut Connector" and "British Nautical Connector" were proven to be retcons - for instance, it was manufactured in the US long before there were any British manufacturers.
Cable connections (Score:2, Informative)
Apple's connectors (Score:2, Funny)
game reference (Score:4, Interesting)
connector genders (Score:5, Funny)
1) which one is male / female, and
2) why they name it something stupid like that
he just kept "umm... ahhh"-ing and never answered.
I was like 17 when it finally dawned on me why they named it that way. ha! then it all made sense.
moral of the story are:
a) who says electrical engineers / connector designers are not perverted?
b) to save yourself trouble, don't talk about male/femail connectors in front of little kids.
Re:connector genders (Score:2)
Let that be a letton to y'all, folks: If your kid asks you a simple question, that has a perfectly simple answer, and the only answer you can provide is "ummm... ahhh", your kid is going to grow up into someone who thinks that the mechanics of human sexual behavior is "perverted".
Re:connector genders (Score:2)
1. Hard core pornography has as much to do with sex as it's commonly practiced as the Star Wars movies have to do with what NASA is doing.
2. Which European country airs hard core porn on prime time TV?
3. This may come as a shock to you, but six year olds know they have genitals.
4. Do you really think that answering a child's innocent question that might bring up a subject with sexual connotations is equivalent to sitting them in front of a TV showing hard core pornography?
Crude Tech jokes (Score:2)
Yeah, the pornographic nature of electrical connectors is pretty strange and amusing. One wonder how the bluenoses let this happen!
Another example: joystick. These were originally invented for high-accelleration aircraft, where the pilot was subjected to G-forces that prevented him (it was always a him, of course) from lifting his hands out of his lap. So they invented a flight control that consisted of a simple stick between the pilots legs. The masturbation metaphor was unavoidable, but where were the censors when all this was a happening? This was the 1950s and America was overrun with Guadians of Virtue. I guess the only answer is that GoVs are just plain dense!
Re:Crude Tech jokes (Score:2)
Re:connector genders (Score:3, Funny)
The real mystery is why a female panel connector is called a "jack".
I remember being embarrassed the first time I had to explain the difference between "male" and "female" connectors when I was in high school.
ANSI Standard (Score:2, Insightful)
Male/Female refers to the contact type.
Plug/Jack refers to movable/fixed. The more movable connector (eg, on the end of a cable) is a plug, and the less movable connector (eg, on a panel) is a jack. This is covered in the ANSI standard for reference designators.
Re:connector genders (Score:2)
When I was doing some part-time work crewing for a "sound reinforcment" firm, I could never remember which way round the XLR connectors went. Which can be a bit of a problem when you've just unravelled 200m of multi-core - the wrong way round. One day the chief sound-engineer grabed a cable and waved both ends in my face and calmly said:
"Remember: Males give. Females receive"
He also pointed out that the 13-amp mains worked with a different standard. Although I've never figured out why
Re:connector genders (Score:2)
What always messed me up was that on the female side of the XLR (with the holes) the body of the connector goes inside of the male connector(with the pins).
sorta messes up the male female distinction
Re:connector genders (Score:4, Informative)
I did sound on a touring edition of a broadway show back in the early 1980s. The system supplier was Masque Sound, who did most of the shows on Broadway. The bad habits of the stagehands forced the companies to do things a bit differently -
Every single XLR cable was female - on both ends. Every XLR panel connector was male.
The reason was that the stagehands insisted on pulling cables out by the cord. Apparently, pressing the little tab was too much work. Masque found that the female XLR would be the one to break, so they used females only on cables, because they were easier to repair. They would go through and replace every female XLR on every a 32 channel mixing board.
Even more bizzarely, they used 2 prong polarized AC cords for speaker connectors. The speaker cabinets had duplex outlets on the back.
Re:connector genders (Score:2)
He should just respond: "You will go blind if you keep asking".
Connector technology (Score:4, Interesting)
Perhaps they should rename themselves "Packard Dell."
Re:Connector technology (Score:2)
(e.g. the swapping of +12V with ground). The result is that upgrading or replacing the power supply with a non ($$$) Dell model will result in a short, and possibly a fire.
Or, if you buy decent power supplies, something like a sharp ticking noise or a high pitched whine as the power supply went in to current foldback in order to protect itself (and whatever it was connected to).
Seriously; spend $30 on a power supply instead of $19.99. Dell will knock you down, but they won't destroy your equipment.
Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:3, Insightful)
One thing (Score:2)
Ok, so let me get this straight (Score:4, Funny)
You want to overclock the power lines?
Re:Ok, so let me get this straight (Score:2, Funny)
"Lance Hatler, was irritated with the "measly 60 Hz" that the electric company fed into his house and decided he could do better. "I thought my overclocked computer system is pretty sweet. Why can't I apply the same principle to my house? I mean besides the fire code," questioned Hatler.
After several trips to the emergency room for massive electric shocks, Hatler's house now runs at a blazing fast 900 MHz. "
Re:Higher frequency AC (Score:2)
Re:Higher frequency AC (Score:2)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Yep, that was one of my gripes. The other was the power adapters. I know nothing about electronics, but wouldn't it be possible to have a house with two circuits, one with big plugs for the stuff that needs more power, and another with little plugs which where the electricity has already been 'transformed' (yes, I'm really that clueless) for all the other stuff.
You already do. (Score:2)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
I don't remember exactly how it is done, but many devices I have convert DC voltages on the fly (for example, cd player: 3V from the batteries or 6V from the power supply).
I think running a low-power 12V DC main together with a standard AC main would be a great idea. When the manufacturers standardize the plug size and make all their circuitry accept 12V, that could remove anywhere from 5 to 25 transformers from an average technically advanced household.
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:5, Informative)
The UK AC plugs may be large, but they are safe, which is a lot more than I can say for the horrible US AC plug design. I visited the UK last year with a bunch of US multi-voltage video equipment. My British hosts were stunned at how bad the US plug design was, and how easy it would be to shock yourself as you inserted or removed one. The hot blade is exposed with AC power on it - if your finger should slip, you get zapped.
The UK plug design is plastic along the length of the blade, and only the end is metal. By the time you see the metal tip of the blades, the circuit is already broken.
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2, Funny)
This reminds me of a hopefully not-too-offtopic joke.
Two officers (let's have them be British and American) are in a restroom taking a leak. The American finishes and walks to the door, skipping the sink on the way out. The Brit says "You know, chap, in the British military, they teach us to wash after using the restroom." The American responds "That so? Interesting. In the US military they teach us not to piss on our hands."
I've never heard of anyone shocking themselves, despite how "easy" it may appear.
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
As one poster already pointed out, some of this has to do with the different voltage.
I'm going to say that this also has to do with the fact that the British were also much more sensitive to electrocutions because it used to happen a lot. Why? For some reason, it was only in the last five or so years that electrical devices starting coming with electrical cords already attached. (One of those old laws on the books that no one can really explain.)
So, as late as the early 1990's, you would bring home a new lamp, and you were responsible for wiring it up with a new electrical cord as well. There was a time this was done in America as well (and for a few products is still done; if you insist on installing a new electric stove in your home yourself, you'll be installng the electrical cord on as well.) However the Brits were doing it for many years after the world stopped, and several dozen people per year were getting seriously electrocuted. Eventually Parliament changed the law, but they still take that sorta thing seriously.
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
I take it you've never needed to reach under a desk to plug a computer into a power strip that you can't see? Try it sometime. You can do it safely with a UK plug.
I've delt with a lot of different electrical standards, and no, I'm not impressed with US standards. For instance, US explosion-risk standards are a joke compared to Australian ones. US standards are just metal to metal mating, while Aus ones have gaskets and all conduits and boxes are pressurized with nitrogen, making sparking impossible.
I guess making snarky comments is easier when you don't have any actual experience with the subject being discussed.
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
FWIW, yes the lower voltage in the U.S. does reduce the risk of electrocution but increases the risk of electrical fire as more current has to be pulled to produce the same power output. That is why for majpor appliances, you guys have to tap 220V.
Oh, and as for individual transformers, sure, if you really want to have junk on poles and visible wires everywhere, fine. But I would prefer to have a single transformer serving multiple houses from a distance away and underground cables. It would certainly make the little town where I live in TN a lot more picturesque.
Rich
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Oh... and one more think I can't understand about UK power. They let you guys have a whole bunch of houses on a single transformer. ACH! Dangerous to your and/or your equipment depending on how stupid your neighbours are...
Since when does every house in the US have its own transformer? Taking a look up at the poles on any given street indicates that there is not one transformer for every house, but one for every several houses.
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
It should be noted that even the ungrounded plugs in the U.S. are now polarised. I believe the pins used to be identical or maybe not. Either way, grounded is better as even with a polarised plug, it is sometimes possible to insert it the wrong way around (if you push hard enough).
Where U.K. plugs *really* *totally* suck is at 3am in the morning and you're heading to the bathroom/toilet and you have left the vacuum cleaner out with the cord uncoiled and you stand on the plug. Particulrly nasty if you're running. OTOH, if you step on the U.S. plugs, they bend which is a pain but at least not painful.
Rich
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Re:Power supply adapters and plugs... (Score:2)
Maybe a Fry's or something like that would have them. If you see them, buy 20 of them, you'll definitely use them.
AMP (Score:2, Informative)
My father worked for AMP [amp.com] for 25 years. They were a leader in all sorts of electronic connections until just a few years ago when Tyco purchased them to try and run them into the ground like everything else they touch. We had more AMP connectors in our garage than most people have ever seen; it was cool.
To this day I still find AMP connectors in common appliances, computers, automobiles, watches... pretty much everything that requires an electrical connector.
RJ-xx's suck (Score:2, Insightful)
-Mike
Re:RJ-xx's suck (Score:2)
I'm convinced, though, that Dante Aligheri's little-known tenth circle is reserved for the geniuses who decided on a slide-lock connector with a DB-15 for 10-megabit Ethernet transceiver cables. I've seen a lot of bad (or simply misused) connectors, but I think this one's still the prize-winner insofar as I'm concerned.
Phil
Could Wired be any more prissy? (Score:5, Interesting)
Ignore the 'being digital' crap and read this [mit.edu]...
Re:Could Wired be any more prissy? (Score:3, Interesting)
Intrestingly, here in the UK the agency responsible for licencing telecommunications equipment insist that consumer equipment have the RJ-11 clips clipped.
As for plugging into the wall we've of these weird BT designed things which are slightly bigger than the RJ-11. The nice thing is that they are made of a less brittle plastic, so are not as prone to breaking. They also tend to lie flat so are not quite as painfull to stand on. (alas my young son has found my stash of RJ-45s, so my feet still hurt).
Re:Could Wired be any more prissy? (Score:2)
RG-45 has the same problem. Fortunatly many RJ-45 manufacturers realized this long ago and started putting little sheathes on the ends of the cables to keep them from snagging so badly. It's still a pain when I go to a site and have to retrieve the 50 misc. cables from under the floor where they've all just been run at random over, around, and through each other.
Re:Could Wired be any more prissy? (Score:2)
Not circular! (Score:2, Insightful)
Unless it's a one-pin "jack" based connector, please don't make it circular. Circular connectors are a real pain - think of the PS/2 mouse (and keyboard) connector. Which angle do you put it in? Try, it doesn't work. Rotate... it doesn't work. Rotate again... you get the idea.
Even an arrow on the "up" part doesn't work, as often the socket is mounted at a funny angle.
That's all.
USB-style plugs -- made for hot-swapping (Score:5, Informative)
One of the main problem in many old-style plugs was that if you had power running through them, and the wrong pin touched first, you flash-fried your electronics. Although RS-232 and similar connectors attempted to have all pins touch at once, it was a touch-and-go thing
USB (and many newer connections) ensure that your ground and power connect appropriately, so that you don't have current running in bad places
Anyway, long post about a small topic
--Tom
Re:USB-style plugs -- made for hot-swapping (Score:2)
Really. The FireWire spec was actually swiped from a very rugged design. The Apple engineers ripped them from the Nintendo videogame controller (for the 6 pin) and the Gameboy (for the 4 pin version). For the most part the 6 pin is nice and rugged - I've only had problems with the tiny 4 pin. Anyone who puts a 4 pin FireWire connector on any device other than a camcorder should be hung up by their thumbs though.
Re:USB-style plugs -- made for hot-swapping (Score:2)
awkward transition to... (Score:4, Funny)
When you connect this with the other gender, these tiny little bursts of electricity flow into the female connector. The female then processes the information and squirts the results out via a RS-232 connector - this may be messy....next day, son, we will cover gender changers.
Favorite connector (Score:2, Interesting)
Personally, my favorite connector has to be the Camlok E-series power connector. There is just something "interesting" about a connector that is rated for 400+ amps of current flow. And just TRY to break one or pull it off the wire...
For multipin, I would have to say that the old IBM Latchback connectors are tops on my list. 240+ pins, all designed to mate at the same time, all gold plated, and designed for low level signals (unamplified audio for example). Single cam based latching mechanism, keyed, and easily maintainable.
Of course, if you have never work in a concert hall, you probably will NEVER see any of these connectors in real life....
Connectors in my PC (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Connectors in my PC - usb (Score:3, Informative)
And all was good.
Until manufacturers could save $0.02 by putting their jacks on upside down or sideways. Now you have a bunch of nicely polarized cables that you can orient blindly in the mess of cables, but have no idea which way the jack is oriented.
(Yes, I have an upside down computer from a vendor that knows better and screwed me for $0.02.)
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:2)
Errr...This tends to suggest that you don't know what all of those pins are there for.
Yes, a basical serial signal works just fine on 2 or 3 pins, but most of the additional pins are there for various flow control and other issues when controlling devices such as external modems and serial printers. Doing in-band signaling would have added significant (at the time) overhead and not worked so well.
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:2)
They could have picked an operating mode (parity, stop bit, bits-per-byte) while they were at it, leaving baud rate as the only variable.
I'm sure they just weren't thinking that their design would be still in use many decades after its introduction.
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:2)
In-band signalling introduces latency and complexity. It is simpler and more reliable to use dedicated wires. RS-232 also has to support synchronous communications, although you are not likely to see that on low-end equipment. It is also not limited to the ASCII character code.
PCs use a very limited subset of the features of RS-232.
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:4, Informative)
1/8" stereo audio - Cute, impossible to insert incorrectly, noisy (electrically), easily broken.
1/4" audio - Big and ugly, until you get used to it. Then you get 18 hours on a modular synth and learn to love them.
RCA - What, like 100 years old or something? Classic, and easy to use.
XLR - Good idea, bulky, but positive contact, locking, and keyed. Pro shops use this for a reason.
UHF (PL-259 / SO-239) - Ancient, gives an impedance spike on the line, fucking impossible to solder with anything less than a 150 watt iron.
BNC - Beautiful. Love this one. I'm converting all RF gear in my shop to BNC, bit by bit. Power handling isn't quite up there, but you can go N for that.
N - Tough, reliable, smooth (impedance-wise), and dead simple to install once you get the hang of it.
F - KILL THIS FUCKING CONNECTOR. Yes, I know it costs you $0.03 per unit, but it's annoying and the inherent 'center conductor IS the pin' is remarkably irresponsible. I'd feel so much better if that cable TV jack on the wall was a BNC.
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:3, Insightful)
Evolution at work, the tranition from DIN to minidin occured at the same time as the transition away from serial mice.
* AC Power cord to power supply - 9. Very satisfying feel. Easy to use.
Ah, yes, the trusty IEC connector. AKA kettleleads in the UK. Great things, pity the distribution boards are so expensive.
* AC Power cord to wall outlet - 6. A true classic. Rated down because of childhood memories of annoying transition to 3-prong grounded outlets. Could have used better protection against fingers/children.
I'd not give US wall plugs more than a 3. At least they have flat connectors, unlike those crappy EU ones. Unsheathed, tinny wobbly little things. UK three-pin plugs are far better.
* 1/8-inch audo jacks - 8. Easy to use. It would be better if all audio equipment would use the same connector (i.e., no 1/4-inch or RCA jacks).
Not robust enough, I've wrecked a couple of these.
* USB connector - 9. Sure beats previous solutions. Would be nice if the up/down orientation distinction was more obvious.
OK. I guess.
* RJ-11/RJ-45 modem/network - 8. Very convenient; elegant design. Achilles heel: if you try to pull the cable out of a tangle of wires, you're likely to break the little retaining tab and ruin the cable.
Agreed
* 15-pin VGA video - 5. Hard to orient, screws are inconvenient (but easier than the 3-BNC connector alternative). Technical achievement award to those who figured out how to kludge 1600x1200 signal frequencies through this thing.
Should see old SUN equipment, the connector contains little coax connectors.
* 9-pin serial connector - 3. Boring. Same problems as VGA. Should have been done with 2 or 3 pins. (Old larger serial connectors rate a 1 for total overkill.)
Most of the extra pins have a use. Flow control for a start. Important when you're going to throughput with as little silicon as possible.
* Parallel printer connector - 1. Choosing to save money by not putting a shift register in the printer was one of the most unfortunate decisions in the history of personal computing. How many kilotons of copper have been needlessly wasted on all those wires? Cable is thick, heavy and expensive. This is a classic example of how the marketplace can converge on a suboptimal solution and then get locked in.
Greater throughput than other tech at the time. Similar connections were used for scsi.
* Centronix printer connector - 1. See previous entry. This end is especially bulky and cheap feeling, to boot.
The good thing about these is that they're rated for about 50V. If you have a lot of relays to control these things are ideal, and commonplace.
* Internal IDE connection - 3. Ribbon cable is hard to manage. Master/slave business is a hassle. Doesn't seem to be a clear standard on orientation keying. Hard to tell when properly seated. Max length too short.
Designed to a price.
* Internal SCSI connection - 3. Same problems as IDE (except for length limitation), plus additional confusion over terminations, ID numbers, and incompatible speeds and widths.
More modern internal SCSI should have D-shaped connectors, nicer.
* CD-ROM audio - 6. Not too bad, once you track down where the connection is on the motherboard.
The latch is a mixed blessing, good in that you don't knock it out, bad in that it's really hard to release when it's clustered up with the rest of the junk on a mobo.
* Hard drive power. - 9. Surprisingly easy to use, given the amperage it must support. The twisting behavior is really nice. I've never had problems with these.
MOLEX. I've had these fall apart on cheap PSUs.
* Motherboard power - 7. Doesn't stand out much, no big problems.
No problems, as long as you're using standard equipment. Some large manufacturers pull tricks like swapping positions of different power levels. A multimeter helps.
* Misc motherboard stake pin connections - 2. No physical alignment constraints and poor silkscreen markings make these a big hassle.
Cheapness rules here
* ISA Slots - 3. The lack of a proper mechanical specification for these caused a lot of alignment headaches. It's a good thing you could use the slot screw to get the thing all the way in with brute force. Things got better once most cards shrunk to the size of a business card; less to go wrong.
Yet another near-dead connector. Lasted well considering. I've had more problems seating PCI cards with their smaller connectors.
* PCI Slots - 6. Relatively unexciting.
Ayup. You missed AGP. I'm amazed how densely that bastard is packed
* PCMCIA Slots - 8. I'm amazed at how all of those tiny pins connect without getting crushed. Good feel, ejection button is fun.
Not much finer than an IDE connector, and a better alignment system.
Missing:
slot1 (pretty good, but obviously a dead end) 7,
Socket7, 8, A, 370 etc etc. some great fun with no alignement, socket 8 worthy mention for being two different pin densities in the same connector. 3-9
Firewire: good design, 10
Floppy power: what internal power supply should be
BNC.. great for signals
Triax, for studio and location video feed: FAR TOO PICKY 2
FC and other fibre connectors, incredible, they do near instantly what takes me by hand about 5min.
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:3, Interesting)
These have got to be the worst designed plugs in the universe. They go in easy, and are impossible to remove.
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:2)
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:2, Funny)
On a similar note.. you gotta hand it to ZIF processor sockets.. those with the "klunky" levers.. a real feeling of staisfaction/amazement that they dont bust up the teensy lil' pins!
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Connectors in my PC (Score:4, Informative)
Making mouse and keyboard identical was stupid.
No, what was stupid was not just running all wires to both connectors. The only difference between the two is that the keyboard clock and data are run to two pins on the keyboard (and not connected on the mouse) connector, and the same thing for the mouse. Just run all the traces to both and you can plug either in to either port.
Best Connector (Score:2)
Why can't we invent a safer electrical plug? (Score:2, Interesting)
It has a standard sized six sided shape with three holes for metal prongs to fit into.
Perhaps, you've seen a cord with a connector that is the opposite gender of these. It might, for example, but a cord comming out of a monitor with a connector that accepts a standard computer power cord.
This cord has metal prongs (male?) but a sheath around the prongs into which the bulk of the plug from the other end fits (femals?).
If you know the kind of connector I'm talking about, then why can't electrical power plugs work like this?
At present, electrical plugs have metal prongs that can be touched with your fingers while the plug is partially inserted into the electrical outlet. What if there were a plastic "fence" around the group of prongs so that it was impossible to touch the prongs while it is being inserted into an outlet? The outlet would have to have the "cutout" for this plastic fence to fit into.
Anyone who has plugged an Apple monitor's electrical cord into the Mac so that the Mac controls the flow of power to the monitor knows what I'm talking about here. It is impossible to touch the prongs while you're inserting the plug into the socket.
RP-TNC connectors (Score:2, Interesting)
They have proved very hard to find, and expensive to order. The connector or adapter cable often prove to be the most expensive part of a homebrew antenna!
Does anyone have any antenna / RF cable tips or know of stores in the SF bay area?
Re:RP-TNC connectors (Score:3, Informative)
The reason why 802.11b equip. has these funny connectors is becuase the FCC mandates that wireless equipment have "difficult to obtain" connectors.
If you don't want to solder, then go to http://www.fab-corp.com/ [fab-corp.com] and see if they have what you want.
Andersen Powerpoles (Score:3, Interesting)
Might as well plug my favorite DC power connectors, Andersen Powerpoles [powerwerx.com] Modular, color-coded, genderless, super-easy to assemble, safe, positive click on connect, etc. Emergency services are quickly adopting them as the standard for all 13.8v (12v nominal) gear for their setups. Perhaps a few cents more than the cheap barrel connectors or Molexes, but they're definitely worth it. I've driven over 12-year-old Powerpole connectors and they're none the worse for wear.
(no connection between me and andersen besides happy customer status, btw.)
And on the sixth day (Score:2)
And it was good.
--Blair
"Bring back the B-Cell."
another design center, another solution (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm always impressed by the connectors for peripherals (generally controllers) on modern video-game consoles. Consider, if you will, the humble playstation connector:
If only connectors for "grownups" were designed this way.
SCART (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:SCART (Score:2)
Tailing into the mains, wedging with matchsticks?
Ultrasound Connectors (Score:3, Interesting)
To prevent constant pin breakage and bending, most ultrasound machines have special guides on the ports (jacks) so that the plug can only be inserted at a precise angle. But it still happens. When you've paid up to $50,000 for an infant cardiac transesophogeal multiplanar probe and you break a half-cent pin, you tend utter words that should not be uttered near an infant needing such a diagnostic examination.
Acuson invented a new type of connector for their Sequoia line of ultrasound systems. The "MP" connector is a flat plate that rests snuggly against another flat plate in the port, held secure by a quick release knob. Imagine a very large inkjet cartridge connector. Unlike an inkjet connector, they're very rugged, and spec'ed out a heck of lot tighter. No more broken pins! And they're a lot easier to attach and detach than the old style.
Ultimate minimalist connectors. (Score:4, Informative)
It really made 50ohm BNC look good when it came out.
Re:Ultimate minimalist connectors. (Score:2)
Old school sun monitor connections (Score:2)
Connector Story (Score:2)
A few years back I was serving on active duty in the US Navy. The ship I was on was in drydock for overhaul at the time. We were performing asbetos ripout on a large space so you had to suit up in a tyvek overall suit and breathe via a mask connected to an air supply via a hose. The connecot on the hose was called a quick-disconnect fitting. If you have ever used pressurized air tools you know what I'm talking about. To connect the hose you simply push a hale fitting into the female fitting. To disconnect you just have to lift a small spring-loaded collar and pull the fittings apart.
One night I was standing the6PM-Midnigh watch. On that particular watch you have to go to the command center (EOS -Enclosed Operating Station) and get your logs signed by the Officer on duty. This particular night when I went to go get my logs signed around 1150 PM. The Office asked me to stand in the EOS and wait for him to do a quick inspection of the engineering spaces.
As I waited all the other watchstanders gradually appeared at the EOS to get their logs signed. Naturall, with about ten people milling about in a small space a lot of conversations started up.
Normally most of the watchstanders in the EOS wear headphones to hear the communications in the engineering spaces. Since so many were talking aloud thay all had hung up their headphones with their earpieces pointed outward just in case someone called in.
Time really flew by and before we knew it the time was 12:30 AM and we hadn't heard from the watchofficer. One of the watchstanders picked up a phone and paged him on the loadspeaker through the engineering spaces. Nothing. No reply for almost five minutes. Worried, a coulple of watchstaders began to leave the EOS to look for him.
Suddenly we someone paged me personally via the phones. I picked up a handset to answer the call. I responded and the Officer said," Petty Officer, I'm calling because something rather embarrasing has happened and I know I can trust you to keep this quiet. I went down to the lower level to inspect the asbetos ripout area and hook up to this air thingy and can't seem to get it to disconnect."
The first thing that flashed through my head was that everone in the entire engineering room had just heard his "secret" because of the headphones hanging. Second, this guy has just spent 45 minuted trying to figure out how to disconnect a quick-disconnect fitting. I hit the floor laughing. Master's Degree in Engineering from an Ivy League School, several years of the best technical schooling the US Navy has to offer and this guy can't figure out a quick disconnect fitting.
Needless to say, by the time myself and everyone else recovered we managed to talk him through getting it disconnnected. He never did live that one down. Every newby watchstander would give him a smirk and a knowing look when they had to deal with him face-to-face. BTW
Bendix/Cannon Connectors (Score:2)
GENDERLESS modular Anderson power connectors (Score:2, Informative)
Basic connector type information (Score:4, Informative)
So, here is what I know. Not everyone here knows their cables or connectors nor do they need to. Here are some simple things to help you out with.
RJ stands for Regents Jack. RJ11 is your typical 2-6 pair telephone jack. RJ45 is your typical 4-5 pair Ethernet pin jack, also gets used for DS1s.
BNC is a Barrel Node Connector. BNC gets used on test equipment, older coax cable NICs for thin or thicknet. Also DS3 twinax cable interfaces. That screw in on the back of your TV set? F-type.
Tons of pretty pictures;
http://www.cmsa.wmin.ac.uk/~alan/compo
Molex appears to have a nice connector tutorial for you to check out. I need to look this over myself;
http://www.molex.com/training/bce/gstoc.
Get yourself a Molex catalog. Every type of cable connector you can imagine. Go to their products page and browse around.
http://www.molex.com
Do not forget Amp, even though their web presence sucks (or last time I looked)
http://www.ampnetconnect.com/
Random cable interfaces, with some pictures;
http://www.peakaudio.com/CobraNet/Netw
Cable Types for 3Com Products
http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/
Unix Serial Port Resources: Sun Serial Port & Cables Pinouts
http://www.stokely.com/unix.serial.port.
IEC has standards, like that power plug on the back of your computer -- an IEC 320 plug.
http://www.iec.org/
Your typical U.S. three prong power plug is an NEMA-5-15P (P for plug), and the receptical is a NEMA-5-15R. Here are some charts with pretty pictures;
http://www.leviton.com/sections/techsu
http://www.quail.com/locator/nema.htm
SCSI connectors, pinouts, and protocols, and some IDE/ATA stuff too;
http://t10.org/
Do not forget about the Fiber Channel and HIPPI;
http://www.t11.org
PCI card interfaces;
http://www.pcisig.com/
EIA/TIA;
http://www.tiaonline.org/
Whoa, I just found this... standards for wiretapping?;
http://www.tiaonline.org/standards
Cisco, always a great place to look and learn. Common LAN interfaces from what I see;
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/pro
More Cisco, including V.35 and X.21 pictures;
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/do
Arg, I had to repost this because Slashdot says, "Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 26.9)." That sucked and needs to change.
If you have more references, please let the world know. I know stuff, you know stuff. Put your stuff here.
Re:Basic connector type information (Score:3, Insightful)
RJ stands for Registered Jack (check out the glossary at the end of this FCC document [fcc.gov]).
BNC stands for Bayonet Neill Concelman [marvac.com]
Don't have the right connector? (Score:3, Funny)
Strip the wires about an inch (with your teeth of course).
Twist the right ones together.
Electrical tape and solder optional.
M@
Re:Or... (Score:2)
Fair point (Score:2)
Re:Fair point (Score:2)
Just overclock your Atlon/Pentium until you transverse the space-time continum. 18 inches will be more than plenty.
Re:positive lock (Score:2)
Re:To Anyone in the position to do this: (Score:2)