With so much choice available for Coax Cables, I thought I would take a small selection of connectors and give a little more information to help you choose the right one for your application.

Of course, to make sure your assembly works the way you want it to, you must make sure you select the correct cable. Better still, speak to your cable assembly experts who will help you make the right technical choices. So here is my quick and simple guide to Coax Connectors

COMMON CONNECTOR TYPES 

"UHF" connector: The "UHF" connector is better known as your "TV Connector" the old industry standby for frequencies above 50 MHz (during World War II, 100 MHz was considered UHF). The UHF connector is primarily an inexpensive all purpose screw-on type that is not truly 50 Ohms. Therefore, it's primarily used below 300 MHz. Power handling of this connector is 500 Watts through 300 MHz. The frequency range is 0-300 MHz.

"F" connector: "F" connectors most commonly used for Satellite TV Boxes were primarily designed for very low cost high volume 75 Ohm applications much as TV and CATV. In this connector, the centre wire of the coax becomes the centre conductor.

"N" connectors: "N" connectors were developed at Bell Labs soon after World War II so it is one of the oldest high performance coax connectors. It has good VSWR and low loss through 11 GHz. Power handling of this connector is 300 Watts through 1 GHz. The frequency range is 0-11 GHz.

"BNC" connector: "BNC" connectors have a bayonet-lock interface which is suitable for uses where numerous quick connect/disconnect insertions are required. BNC connector are, for example, used in various laboratory instruments and radio equipment. A BNC connector has much lower cut-off frequency and higher loss than the N connector. BNC connectors are commonly available at 50 ohms and 75 ohms versions. Power handling of this connector is 80 Watts at 1 GHz. The frequency range is 0-4 GHz.

"TNC" connector: These connectors are an improved version of the BNC with a threaded interface. Power handling of this connector is 100 Watts at 1 GHz. The frequency range is 0-11 GHz.

"SMA" connector: "SMA" or miniature connectors became available in the mid 1960's. They are primarily designed for semi-rigid small diameter (0.141" OD and less) metal jacketed cable. Power handling of this connector is 100 Watts at 1 GHz. The frequency range is 0-18 GHz.

"7-16 DIN" connector: "7-16 DIN" connectors are recently developed in Europe. The part number represents the size in metric millimetres and DIN specifications. This quite expensive connector series was primarily designed for high power applications where many devices are co-located (like cellular poles). Power handling of this connector is 2500 Watts at 1 GHz. The frequency range is 0-7.5 GHz.

"IEC antenna connector": This is a very low-cost high volume 75 ohm connector used for TV and radio antenna connections around Europe.

Now we know there are loads more connectors and options than we can possibly cover here, but this at least should have been an interesting and informative guide. I suspect at this point you still want to speak to your cable experts before you go-ahead and design the assembly all by yourself.

It is that time of year when we will be thinking about what to send our beloved customers and suppliers as a thank you for the great work you have all done this year.

Rather than sending the traditional Christmas card with all the usual awaked discussions about should you say season’s greetings or happy Christmas my idea is that you do something completely different and send an eco-gift instead?

Here are a couple of ideas that may inspire you to go for this year.  My first suggestion is a “plant a tree gift” from www.oxtreegen.com  not only do they make it simple they have a wide range of corporate carbon offset gift ideas.  You can pay for a single tree to be planted or a 4x4 to be offset with more trees planting.  It’s not that expensive either and very simple you or your customers can have the tree planted for you.  What’s more there is a simple carbon calculation for you to use.



Another great company is www.ec-ecogifts.co.uk where you can buy anything from a water powered calculator to a bamboo USB drive.  They have loads of novelty gift ideas as well as some everyday products with a green theme.

So with these ideas in mind why don’t you decide to stand out from the crowd and do something unusual and exciting?  Believe me your customers will remember it for all the right reasons.

There is good news for the renewable energy industry as Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. has developed wiring than can conduct about 50 percent more current than existing superconductive cables, targeting power producers and medical equipment makers seeking more efficient delivery of electricity.

The wires, known as high-temperature superconductors, are made using the metal bismuth and have zero electrical resistance, Kenichi Sato, a chief engineer at the Osaka-based company, said Sept. 21 in an interview. Sumitomo, whose customers include Tokyo Electric Power Co., Asia's biggest power producer, in 2004 started producing wires capable of delivering up to 200 amperes.

Bismuth-based high-temperature superconductors can transmit 200 times the electrical current of copper cables when cooled with liquid nitrogen, resulting in less wiring being needed to transmit power, Sato said. The technology allows for more efficient connections with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, he said.

At the same time Lapp Cable launches a cabling product line for photovoltaic (PV) applications under the name ölflex Solar. The cables are UV-resistant and characterised by a high level of resistance to the weather and temperature.

The ölflex XLR cables are produced using electron beam cross-linking, a technology adopted from the aerospace industry to give polymer materials stronger thermal and mechanical properties. The resulting TÜV-approved cables offer thermal resistance from -40 to 120°C and long lasting functionality under all weather conditions.

The standard cross-linked ölflex XLS cables are for use in the temperatures ranging from -40 to 100°C. These cables are normally mounted on flat or pitched roofs and in field systems for wiring solar panels together. Due to their large conductor cross-section, these ruggedized cables are used in large solar systems as a collective line to carry high electric loads between individual rows of modules and as a connector to the power inverter. They are also suitable for underground installation.
 
All this is just as well as manufacturing giant Siemens has announced three major deals to supply wind energy turbines and the company's expertise to projects in Russia, Scotland and the North Sea.

The company announced it has signed a partnership with two Russian companies, Rostechnologii and RusHydro, to establish a joint venture to set up facilities to produce wind turbine components for the Russian market. The unit will also provide sales and service of Siemens wind turbines in Russia and other countries.

There is a lot of exciting developments in the re-newable energy industry and a great number of projects are getting off the ground out there especially on other countries. It does seem a little like the rest of the world is buying big into re-newable energy markets. And for our own country's industry, the train is leaving the station... The big question is: are we on it?