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Old 18th Aug 2020, 2:48 pm   #141
trevatxtal
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

When I was 18 and in the Royal Air Force I had to wire / solder a 50 pin in line connector (similar to the one shown) with 20 minutes to do it. This was a test for me to jump trades from Radar Operator/Tech in to Electronic Engineer.
It was tested and passed !
The test was done in 95 deg Fahrenheit humidity 95% and I was allowed just one shot at it.
I have never sweated so much in my life and even now to see a multi pin connector gives me nightmares.
Oh yes in Malaya In 1966.
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Old 18th Aug 2020, 3:33 pm   #142
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Beobloke View Post
To be fair though, the standard USB does have the fun aspect of being the only connector with three orientations.

Don't believe me? Well, think back and recall how many times you have tried to insert a USB plug for it not to go in, so turned it upside down and it still won't go in, so you return it to the original orientation and in it goes.

Certainly been there more than once
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Old 18th Aug 2020, 11:37 pm   #143
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Buy a laptop with a flippable touchscreen and then you start to have to really check which way up the USB port is!
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Old 19th Aug 2020, 12:27 am   #144
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Low tech felt tip pen
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 1:16 pm   #145
Oldmadham
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6ONEDave View Post
Not keen on the side swipe type of connections, where the fixed 'U channel' is meant to cut through the wire insulation and grip the wire. Had no end where the wire either breaks inside the insulation or does not make connection due to it's insulation. Typically used in the telecoms industry and I have also had them break at the base of the said 'U'.
Also if you think 3.5mm 4 pole jacks are bad, wait while you attempt a 2.5mm 4 pole version and yes they do exist! Another hate of mine is cheap crimp on BNC plugs, that don't have a means of clamping the inner wire core, it's just a push fit. These are absolutely useless and should all be melted down to make something that actually works!
Funny, I've never seen one of these-----all the cheap crimp BNCs I've used crimp the centre pin, just as the expensive ones do.

If you instead, mean to physically retain the centre conductor by clamping around its insulation, screw up type "clamp" BNCs don't do that, either. I've lost count of the occasions when the "guts" just pulled out of the centre of one of those.

One thing I have found, is that, with "cheap" crimp BNCs the cable can sometimes over time, "work" in the crimp sleeve & become
loose----- a problem which is much rarer with quality ones.
The same thing is evident with "cheap" crimp "UHF" connectors.

Adhesive heat shrink tubing prevents this, & creates a more attractive appearance.
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 2:34 pm   #146
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Another nuance of this is the "most horrible connection ever", that would be a tinned (by soldering iron or dip, not the original tinning) multi strand lead in a screw or crimp terminal.
 
Old 31st Aug 2020, 9:52 am   #147
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

If the cable has pulled out of a clamp BNC it was put on wrong.
That can't happen short of using the cable to hang the equipment from the ceiling.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 2:51 pm   #148
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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That can't happen short of using the cable to hang the equipment from the ceiling.
Rather depends on the weight of it, there are at least two types of clamp BNCs, one is the "push a tube over the inner" the other "wrap screen round a conical washer". The "push up" type are easier to use, the "conical washer" are cheaper. The easiest BNCs to fit are the right angle solder/clamp type, no fiddly pin to loose. They are probably the worst matching though (below a GHz fine).
 
Old 1st Sep 2020, 9:39 am   #149
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Yes much prefer the open ended top hat type which you slide between braid and inner insulator. The conical ones seem to be all washers and rubber diaphragms to assemble in any order you like!

It's amazing how few connector fitters bother to fan out the braid and trim it so it is squeezed down by the rubber buffer under force from the backnut.

They seem to hope that the rubber being squashed from the back will somehow "swell up" and squeeze it all together. If the connector can be rotated on the end of the cable then one of these guys work is detected for sure.
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Old 6th Sep 2020, 2:52 pm   #150
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

It seems someone selling on a FB marketplace near me, agrees with many of you:
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Old 6th Sep 2020, 4:20 pm   #151
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

They look like the good ones, despite spellcheck's opinion!
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Old 6th Sep 2020, 4:51 pm   #152
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Quote:
Originally Posted by AC/HL View Post
Low tech felt tip pen
Not a lot of people know this, but the USB logo on a plug, and arguably on that pen-drive, is supposed to indicate the upper face when used in a horizontally orientated socket.
I have seen exceptions to this rule, but not very often.

Also, has anyone noticed that the rating label on Chinese wall-warts is often upside-down suggesting the Chinese think our outlets have the earth pin pointing downwards?
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Old 6th Sep 2020, 9:38 pm   #153
emeritus
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Probably because the housing is designed for the configuration of US mains sockets, where my understanding is that the preferred configuration is earth lowermost.
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 8:46 am   #154
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

I believe Australian sockets are also orientated earth downwards.

Well, that is the direction to the ground, so it sort of makes sense.
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 12:04 pm   #155
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Moll View Post
I believe Australian sockets are also orientated earth downwards.
Ahem, and New Zealand - AS/NZS3112 thank you very much

The weird thing is that China use an almost identical connector, but normally mounted with the earth pin at the top, UK style.
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 3:00 pm   #156
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

My apologies for not including Aotearoa and the other countries who use the same connector. My antipodean direct experiences don't extend beyond Australia.
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Old 7th Sep 2020, 5:39 pm   #157
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Quote:
Originally Posted by duncanlowe View Post
It seems someone selling on a FB marketplace near me, agrees with many of you:
Oh B****y hell, that made me laugh almost to the point of crying!
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