![]() Last up, this family of connectors is the most popular type and is what we’ll mostly be focusing on today. You’ll find these being used in electronic test equipment and audio devices, and they keep wires attached with the help of screws and clamps that get attached to a metal post. This family of connectors is similar to terminal blocks in that it allows you to attach wires to a circuit without needing to join mechanical parts together. You’ll find terminal blocks being used on some PCBs, where a portion of the terminal block is attached to the board, and the other part containing the wires can be removed at will for an easy swapping process. ![]() This family of connectors came around when engineers needed an easy way to connect electrical wires together without having to join mechanical parts physically. But that’s not all you can also group connectors into some distinct families which make them easy to keep track of in your head. Every connector has its own set of unique set of characteristics, including different physical sizes, shapes, vibration resistances, and more. You’ll find connectors all over the place out in the wild, being used to join sections of circuits together on PCBs and other devices. Mounting will also determine how the connector is angled from its attachment, which can be either straight or right-angled. What now? You’ll want to return home with your prize and mount it to your trophy wall! In electronics, mounting refers to how a connector is attached to a panel or PCB, which can be attached via surface mount (SMT) or through-hole. Now let’s say you do manage to capture and kill one of those dangerous connectors out in the wild. This helps to keep all of the sensitive metal contact pieces inside from breaking when jostled around by human hands and other mechanical vibrations. Each connector has its own way of protecting itself, called strain relief. You can’t just walk up to any connector out in the wild and catch it though. ![]() See the notch on the top of this female XLR cable? It only accepts a connection in one orientation. These male and female connectors have what are called definite mating cycles, Which means that they can only be connected and disconnected a certain amount of times until they break! For example, USB connectors are designed to be mated thousands of times, whereas something like a Molex power connector can only mate a few times before going belly up. If you’re planning to track and hunt connectors out in the wild, then you’ll need to know how to talk and act like one, so you can blend in! First off, every connector comes in one of two genders, male or female. Let’s see what else we can find out in the wild today! The Lingo Down Under While you might have seen many of these connectors roaming out in the wild in your own electronics, do you know them by name, and what they do? By the end of this blog post you will, but wait, Crikey look, there she is! We finally spotted the mysterious USB-C connector, what a beaut. Welcome, hobbyists, to the wild savanna of PCB connectors! We’ve got USBs, RCAs, barrel connectors, and more all roaming about in the wild, offering ways to transmit power, bring in data as input, and send out new output. 13 min read Out in the Wild – The PCB Connectors You Need to Know About as a Hobbyist
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