Connectors

More Information about Connectors

Phoenix Contact is one of the most well-known companies in the field of electrical connectors. They offer a range of connector types, including surface mount, board mount, and press-fit connectors. They also produce terminal blocks, which are used to connect wires to a circuit board or another device.

Connectors typically consist of male and female pins or contacts, which mate to form a connection. The pins or contacts are housed in a plastic or metal shell, which provides support and protection to the connector. Connectors can be used for a variety of purposes, including power transmission, data transfer, and signal communication.

Some connectors, such as USB connectors, are standardized to ensure compatibility between devices. Others, such as banana plugs, are used in specific applications, such as audio equipment. Connectors can be used to connect bare wires or cables, as well as sockets and plugs.

FAQs

What connectors should be used with data cables?

Data cables can use a variety of connectors depending on the application and the specific cable type. Here are some common types of connectors used with data cables: USB, RJ45, HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort and FireWire.

Serial Communication Basics

In telecommunications, the process of sending data sequentially over a computer bus or communication cable is known as serial communication. Serial communication transmits data one bit at a time. Parallel communication transmits bits simultaneously over multiple communication lines in a single bus or cable. While it may seem that parallel communication would be the preferred method, this is not true in many situations. 

Because of the increased complexity and data transmission, serial communication has faster speeds than parallel communication. The speed at which serial is communicated can be altered by adjusting what is known as the BOD rate, which simply increases the number of the bits that can be transmitted per second. This is one of the reasons serial communication methods have remained such a common method for basic communication in much of computer based hardware used today. 

Some of the most common standards that have been created to take advantage of serial based communication in the industrial space would be RS 232 and RS 485. The earlier RS 232 standard was very common in computing in many different industrial, commercial and residential applications. It had lower transmission speeds, short maximum cable lengths and large voltage swings, making it useful only in certain situations. RS 485 is an improved standard that is still found in many of the same applications today. It resolved many of the issues the earlier RS 232 standard had by allowing longer cable lengths, higher transmission speeds and other improvements that increased its usability and performance.