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Seeking Your Interest in Receiving Solderless Compression Mounted RF Connectors to Experiment With

rscasny

imageI have been in conversation with one of our suppliers who makes solderless compression-mounted RF connectors. They say these connectors are desirable for their fast and easy installation compared to standard soldered connectors. They are rugged and durable, and can be customized for the PCB footprint. While they aren't the solution for every situation, they are used for applications such as RF test and measurement boards; High Speed Digital component test equipment; and stripline, microstrip and coplanar waveguide PCB launch connectors.

Here's some documentation on these connectors:

www.svmicrowave.com/.../Solderless_Compression_Mount_Study.pdf
www.svmicrowave.com/.../LiteTouch_Solderless_PCB_Connectors_Application_Note.pdf
www.svmicrowave.com/.../Solderless_PCB_Compression_Mount_Connectors_Application_Note.pdf
www.svmicrowave.com/solderless-pcb-edge-launch
https://svmicrowave.com/high-speed-solderless-pcb-connectors

What we would like you to do

We would like to send a few members some of these connectors to experiment with informally and write a blog about their thoughts and testing of them. The blog would be something like this one: click here to view.

Here are some of the types of solderless compression mounted RF connectors we would give you:

image image image image
SF2921-61507 RF / Coaxial Connector, PCB SMD, SMA Coaxial, Straight Flanged Jack, Compression, 50 ohm  SF2921-61507 SF1521-60061 RF COAXIAL, 2.92MM JACK, 50 OHM, PANEL  SF1521-60061 SF3321-60040 RF / Coaxial Connector, 1.85mm Coaxial, Edge Launch Jack, Board Edge / End Launch, 50 ohm   SF3321-60040 SF1521-60013 RF / Coaxial Connector, 2.92mm Connector, Straight Jack, 50 ohm, Beryllium Copper  SF1521-60013

**Participants will receive a giveaway prize that needs to be determined. 

  • Pinging  , who's been using the non-BNC coaxial connectors a lot.

  • Thanks   I didn't see this.

    I'll write up a mini-proposal and send it across to see if it is of interest. I can think of several applications where it could be very useful.

  • I am interested in seeing someone knowledgeable tackle this - much more than trying it myself.

  • The compression mount type SMAs are quite popular in mmWave microwave circuits. I have specialised in antennas and I have been using the normal edge mount SMAs from Wurth or Molex that work upto 18 GHz only. Given below are two of my published works on frequency reconfigurable antennas. You can see the soldered SMAs to the antenna feed.

    imageimage

    imageimage

    For higher frequencies like 26-28GHz, the compression mount connectors (2.92 mm/K type) are used. I'm surprised to see the specs of the above conncetors, they work from DC all the way upto 67 GHz! I was familiar with the ones that work till 40 GHz.
    While I can still blog about them, but I have limited resources and cannot test the connectors for more than 20GHz as the VNA I have access to works till 20 GHz only.

  • Definitely won't be an easy thing to test if you want to know how it performs at >2GHz. Will need a pretty decent board design and probably good board substrates too. A good signal source/spectrum analyser/cables and/or a VNA. Not sure I could even do such a thing ... if I even have the equipment. The product itself is quite interesting though ...

    - Gough

  • in reply to Gough Lui

    FR-4 substrate works just fine till 8-10 GHz. All my antennas are based on FR-4. But yes, for truly testing the components, the substrates have to be different along with other devices and interconnects. 

  • Can someone help me understand no soldering?

    If I was working on an RF project I would throw my name into the hat. I'm still curious about how a reliable connection is ensured.

    In my aviation electronic career, I probably assembled a few hundred RF connectors. Some I recall you could crimp but they recommended a touch of solder on the center pin. Connectors outdoors exposed to elements were a definite solder. I have seen the center pin actually pull back when the temperature drops low enough, that it causes problems. I would be reluctant to use a solderless connector in place above 64 degrees Lat.

    Any insight on these connector connections would be appreciated.

  • Hi all,

    I wanted to touch with anyone interested in participating in this little project.

    Since we haven't really done anything (that I can recall) on solderless compression connectors, I'm interested in pursuing this, which is unique for us.

    What do we want you to do?

    I'll send you some of these solderless connectors and you would write a blog about them. What you cover in the blog would be up to you. Any tests or experiments would be a good thing to cover. You would post your blog in this group.

    I realize there are some limitations. I understand. The sponsor would like some members of element14 to receive their parts and see what you think of them. 

    What's the timeline?

    I realize we are entering the end of year season holidays. I was planning to order parts this week. So, I would expect the blog to be posted mid-January or thereabouts.

    If you are interested, feel free to leave a comment or message me at @rscasny. I selected 4 types of connectors listed above. If you have other preferences, just tell me.

    Thanks.

    Randall
    --element14

  • in reply to rscasny

    I have options to use the first, SMA connector.