Cables, connectors, and combinations of the two are available in almost every form and function. For today’s engineer, this fact can translate into a lot of time spent just to narrow down which transmission-line components could satisfy his or her design needs. From that list of components, one then needs to research pricing, availability, cable lengths, and more. To ease this burden, many cable and connector companies have begun to offer highly functional, comprehensive, information-laden websites. These sites are updated often to reflect new products and ordering capabilities.
An example is Electronika International, Inc. (Cleveland, OH), which just updated its site to offer a wide range of specification choices. Those specifications, in turn, generate drawings, pricing, and online ordering. The company specializes in both standard and custom coaxial-cable assembly using a wide range of RG, LMR, and semi-rigid-types cable. It offers choices of different connectors like SMA, N, BNC, TNC, UHF, MMCX, MCX, and SSMB. Reverse-polarity connectors are available upon request.
A recent online investment also has been made by W.L. Gore & Associates (Elkton, MD). Specifically, it has added assemblies to its online interactive design guide. The tool now provides a menu of connector options to configure a complete GORE High Flex Flat Cable Assembly or Trackless Cable Assembly with 10-day lead times (see figure). The standard connector offerings include D-Sub, BNC, coaxial, IEEE 1394, RJ45, CPC, and Mate-n-lock. The company’s High Flex Flat Cable and Trackless Cable Configurator, which is available at www.gore.com/designacable, simplifies the cable design process with a step-by-step procedure. Users can take an interactive tour to learn more about the GORE Cable Configurator. They then design a cable or cable assembly and submit an RFQ using the simple configuration tool.
