Article Reprint from Microwave Journal, March 2007
by Paul Pino, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
SMA, 3.5 mm and 2.92 mm connectors make reliable, RF components and instrumentation possible. These seemingly mundane devices are the result of evolutionary and revolutionary design, covering a 40-year period and involving several corporations. In their present state, they represent highly evolved, well-defined interface systems.
It is not widely understood that these connector types are mechanically intermateable; meaning, SMA, 3.5 mm and 2.92 mm connectors, of good quality and in good condition, will inter-mate across connector families without damage. But what are the electrical ramifications of inter-mating of these connector types? Can they be used interchangeably without an appreciable difference in performance, that is, will a significant impedance discontinuity occur when mixing types? Were they intended to be inter-mated in the first place? To properly answer these questions calls for a brief examination of the history and motivations behind these connectors. Read the Article >