Experimenting With Waterproof Connectors

In this competition, participants will have the opportunity to experiment with Amphenol’s waterproof connectors in a watertight enclosure, and compete for some great prizes.

Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors

About Competition | Blogging | Dates | Example Application | Judges | Kit | Prizes | Resources | Terms & Conditions | The Challengers

Many electrical and electronic systems are used in rugged environments where contact with water, sprays, and moisture can impede normal system operation. Ensuring electrical safety and signal integrity when operating in these tough environments requires electronics being housed in watertight enclosures and interconnected by cables terminated with waterproof connectors. In these environments, panel-mounted waterproof connectors achieve a watertight seal preventing water from leaking into the enclosure.

Using a kit of waterproof connectors provided by our sponsor Amphenol, this competition focuses on experimenting with waterproof connectors. Challengers will also be given a customized watertight enclosure by Hammond Manufacturing. Before we talk about what the participants will receive in the Challenger's kit, and the great prizes they are competing for, let's talk about how to enter this competition, the program’s timeline, how participant blogs will be judged, and some common FAQs.

Who is Eligible & How to Enroll in the Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors Competition?

Any element14 member is eligible to enroll. You need to submit an application entry form by the enrollment due date, March 22, 2023. If you are not an element14 community member and are interested in enrolling, please Join here. Then complete all the required information on the application form and click SUBMIT.

What are the milestones of the competition?

Blogging for Points

What do challengers have to do to win? The simple answer is: blogging and posting to the Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors group. Members are awarded points based on the blogs they write during the challenge. There are two mandatory blogs to successfully complete this activity and be eligible for (at least) finisher’s prize. Here is how challengers earns points:

• Introductory Blog: Write a blog in the first two weeks of the competition that describes how you are going to experiment with waterproof connectors. If you post this blog by April 19, 2023 (17:00 CST), you will earn 60 points.
• Final Summary Blog: Write a standalone, detailed final summary blog. Within this blog, you should restate your experimenting premise, describe your experiments and/or methodology, the results you obtained, what you learned and any tips   tricks you discovered. If you post the blog by June 6, 2023 (17:00 CST), you will earn up to 300 points, based upon judging. (Note: this is the most important blog of the competition.)
• Extra Credit Blog: element14 will judge and award points for up to 5 extra credit blogs. Points are based upon the blog theme and the quality of the blog. Each blog is worth up to 20 points. (Note: The number of extra credit blogs were not chosen by random. We reviewed the lifetime blog totals for all nine Experimenting challenges as of Feb 1, 2023. There have been 324 blogs written by 88 participants or an average of 3.6 blogs per participant. So, element14 decided to round it up to 5 extra credit blogs total per person for this challenge.)
• Forum Participation: element14 will review the participation in the forum associated with this competition. We will award up to 40 points based upon a participant’s forum engagement.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please also tag your blogs with 'Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors' to ensure they are found easily.

The Prizes

There will be two big prizes awarded in this competition: a Grand Prize and a Runner Up prize.

The Grand Prize

DSOX1204G: Digital Oscilloscope, Upgradeable 200MHz, InfiniiVision 1000 X-Series, 4 Channel, 70 MHz, 2 GSPS Approximate value ($1,633)

The Runner Up

MP710079 US CAL D: Bench Power Supply, Calibrated w/D, Programmable, 3 Output, 1 V, 20 V, 250 mA, 5 A Approximate value ($407)

All Finishers

AKX00026 Arduino OPLA IoT Kit Approximate value ($128)

Note: All finishers, excluding the Grand and Runner Up Prize winners, will receive the finisher's prize.

The Kit

element14 is offering 7 kits FREE of charge. To be eligible to receive one of them, you must submit an application by the enrollment deadline (March 22, 2023).

Note: The challenge kit does not provide everything that will be needed for this competition. The challenger will need to have the resources and equipment, as well as other minor parts to build their testing systems.

Resources/Technical Documentation

• P-MRU-AF41-20XX-REVC
• P-MRU-AM21-4000-REVD
• D-Sub Waterproof Connectors Standard and High Density
• D-sub Waterproof, ED Series, Female Solder Cup Type
• P-MRJ-59XX-X1-REVA
• MRD Series Rugged Circular Locking Connectors: Commercial Industrial
• MRD Series Rugged Circular Locking Connectors: Commercial IO
• N Female to SMA Female Bulk Adapter
• SMA BHD Jack to MCX Jack Adapter
• IP67 TNC and RP-TNC Product Series
• SMA STR BHD Jack FR MT IP67 TO AMC RA Plug
• 1554VA Enclosure
• LattePanda Datasheet
• LattePanda Documentation
• LattePanda Downloads
• IP67 Boot Style Hood
• musbr-ahd2-321 Sketch

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What do I need to do to win the Grand or Runner Up Prize?

You need to post the mandatory introductory and final summary blogs and any extra credit blogs you choose to write. The judges and element14 will award points for each. The two participants who earn the maximum number of points will win the top prizes.

Can I still be eligible for the Grand Prize or Runner Up Prizes if I am not selected for one of the 7 kits?

Yes, on the condition that you purchase the kit parts and perform experiments with them, and post your blogs in the Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors Group. (Note: the kit costs over $400. In addition, the enclosure is being customized with holes cut for the connectors, which may be an obstacle for a non-sponsored applicant who would be responsible for cutting the connector-holes themselves.)

Do I have to post more than 2 blogs to successfully finish the competition?

No. To finish the competition, you have to write and post two mandatory blogs to the Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors group. If you want to, you can post up to 5 more optional blogs for extra credit.

How do you determine who wins the competition?

We award points for blogs based upon their quality, creativity and technical merit. See the judging section below for details.

Tips on Writing Your Application

The key to writing a winning application is to provide as much meaningful information about your proposed experiments as possible.

The application entry form should be adequately detailed to give a good idea of what you plan to do and how you plan to pull it off. By answering each of the following questions in your application, you will provide enough information:

(a) Describe your technical background.

(b) Why are you interested in this competition?

(c) What kind of experiment(s) do you plan to perform? (Be as specific as you can)

(d) Have you participated in the element14 Community? If so, please provide some links to what you've done. If you are a new member, answer "New Member."

All interested element14 members must submit an application entry form before the end of enrollment on March 22, 2023.

Here are some other suggestions for completing a winning application:

1. Please complete all required information (contact information, etc.) Always use the email address that is associated with your element14 member account.
2. Answer all of the application questions. Incomplete application are deemed ineligible.
3. Tell us why you want to be selected.
4. Before deciding what you want to write, think about the following things: You are entering a competition. The most persuasive applications are the ones that attract the eye of the judges.
5. Be as detailed as possible, but don't write a book.

A single sentence application will never be selected. This competition is not a game of chance.

Judging the Blogs

element14 members volunteer to judge the competition. Typically, our judges come from our Top Members group. (In some cases, we use members who are experienced engineers, but not a Top Member.) For this competition, the judges are:

Top Member DAB

Don spent 35 years in the aerospace industry working on many advanced projects. His range of experience covers nearly every scientific field and most ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum. He has a very broad interest and knowledge in science with extensive analysis in image, multispectral and hyper-spectral analysis. He has also worked on a wide range of embedded computer applications, including integrated search and rescue systems.

Top Member shabaz

Shabaz has studied Electronics Engineering followed by Law, and worked primarily in the fields of radio communications (military), telecommunications (infrastructure used by phone companies), data networks, and information technology. He was originally involved in hardware design, followed by software engineering and technical marketing.

Thank you to our Judges for offering their time and service.

Judging is based upon a point system described below:

• Introductory Blog: You must complete the introductory blog and post it to element14 by April 19, 2023 (17:00 CST). This blog should describe what experiments you plan to conduct and any other relevant information that would be of interest to a judge or a blog reader. To get you going, we will award 60 points if you fulfill these conditions.
• Final Summary Blog: This blog is a standalone, detailed blog that covers the premise of your testing, a description of your experiments, testing methodology, the results of your experiments, and what you learned (e.g., tips, tricks and lessons learned) all WITHIN the blog. You can provide links to your extra credit blogs in a References section. IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not treat this blog as a table of contents or index to your other blogs; if you do, you will not score as high as if you included all the important information in a single final summary blog. This blog will go to the judges. It is worth up to 300 points, based on the judge’s discretion.
• Extra Credit Blog: These are blogs that support your experiments and add into your total points. Each extra credit blog can earn up to 20 points. They will be judged in the following manner:
  • You will be awarded 15 points for explaining the technology providing a closer look or in depth discussion of an experiment.
  • You will be award 10 points for providing "getting started" steps or a tutorial that explains how to do something that’s relevant to one of your experiments.
  • You will be awarded 10 points for providing a kit unboxing or other product photos/videos.
  • You will be awarded 1 point for a general update (e.g. I received the kit) or a progress update (e.g., I have been delayed because I am waiting on another part).
  • You will be awarded 5 points if you align your blog to accepted best practices of search engine optimization (SEO). Here are some good examples to imitate:
    1. Example 1: A Comprehensive Guide to Fuses
    2. Example 2: DMX Explained DMX512 and RS 485 Protocol Detail for Lighting Applications
• Forum Participation: element14 will review the forum associated with this challenge and award up to a total of 40 points for the following:
  • 10 points for asking a question regarding your experiments
  • 15 points: for providing substantive assistance to another participant
  • 5 points for making a general comment

The Challengers

You will be able to see how you compare to other participants via a table element14 will update in the competition group. (Updated June 12, 2023)

General Questions

For any general questions about the ‘Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors’ competition, please post a comment on this page.

To keep up-to-date with this competition, please bookmark it.

Terms & Conditions