Right Angle. A connector mounting position option.
A channel for holding wires or cables.
A cabinet used to house components, which permits convenient removal of portions of the equipment for repair or examination. Racks vary in size and shape; they accept packages called bins, modules, and black boxes.
Connector that connects the inside back end of the cabinet (rack) with the drawer containing the equipment when it is fully inserted. The drawer permits convenient removal or portions of the equipment for repair or examination.
Special design and rugged construction of the connector allows for variations in rack-to-panel alignment.
See RF.
An connector used for RF or coaxial transmission.
Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)
Electromagnetic waves that cause interruptions of signals processed in radios.
Standard rating designations for coaxial cable. Indicates the size of the conductor.
Redundant Array of Individual Disks. A computer data storage method that uses an array of individual hard disk drives to store data, instead of a single, larger, and more expensive disk drive. A RAID has these advantages over a single disk drive of the same capacity:
A terminal block design that includes an elevated base that permits flux and solvents to drain during flow soldering operations.
Random Access Memory. Refers to the portion of a computer's memory that can be written to and read from when running an application program.
The process of retrieving data from a storage medium in a direct, rather than sequential, manner. The term "direct access" is preferred.
See RAM.
See RAST 5.
A Premium line wire-to-board insulation displacement system on a 5.0 mm pitch. The system was developed for high current applications normally associated with the wet goods industry.
A device used to ensure the full crimping cycle of a crimping tool.
The maximum temperature at which an electric component can operate for extended periods without loss of its basic properties.
The maximum voltage at which an electric component can operate for extended periods without undue degradation or safety hazard.
RAST series fully automated harness application tooling machine.
Rectangular Chip Carrier. A chip carrier package which has unequal length and width dimensions.
See also Chip Carrier.
Robotic Connector Technology
Rubber insulated twin conductors, fibrous covered.
Rubber insulated twin conductors, lead covered.
The opposition offered to the flow of alternating current by the inductance or capacitance of a component or circuit.
See ROM.
For PCBs and connectors, the ability to make contact with certain circuits. Example: A double readout PC connector will permit two wires to be connected to any one circuit on the PCB.
A random-access memory that can be written into and read out of. In contrast with ROM, it can be read but not written to.
Surface space on a PCB. With the move toward miniaturization of electronic products, maximizing PCB real estate is a major concern of connector designers.
A design feature that provides an environmental seal at the rear of plug or receptacle.
Method in which a solder joint is made by melting the solder coatings on the mating components.
In DIN 41612 connectors, a plastic shroud used to create a male connector from a female connector with extended pins. Used at the rear of a motherboard for back panel wiring applications.
Connector contacts that are released and removed from the rear (wire side) of the connector. The removal tool engages the contact from the rear and pulls the contact out of the connector contact retainer.
An environmental seal at the rear of a plug or receptacle.
In fiber optics, the accepting side of the terminus in an optical conductor interface.
A connector intended to be mounted or installed onto a fixed structure such as a panel, electrical case, or chassis, which couples or mates to a plug connector.
In telecommunications applications, a device usually used on telephone instruments and associated equipment to house a plug and jack retainer.
A terminal with a rectangular shape tongue.
An electronic device that converts alternating current into direct current. Operates as a one-way valve to ensure that current flows in only one direction. Most often semiconductor diodes.
Edge of cable or conductor, sometimes indicated by a thread, identification stripe, or printing, from which measurements are made. Conductors are usually identified by their sequential position from the reference edge, with number one conductor closest to this edge.
The full or partial return of transmitted optical or electromagnetic energy to the source by an index or impedance mismatch, measured in decibel (dB).
Interference in signal transmission caused when a portion of a signal is directed backwards, in the direction from which the signal originated.
See also Transmission Coefficient.
A soldering process in which heat is used to melt solder paste between connector leads and PCB pads to make a solder joint. The heat source can be infrared radiation (IR reflow) or vapor condensation (vapor phase reflow).
Soldering a device to a PCB by placing its PC tails over pads, where solder has been previously deposited, and remelting the solder.
The melting of an electro-deposit followed by solidification. The surface has the appearance and physical characteristics of being hot-dipped.
In fiber optics, the ratio of light velocity in a vacuum to its velocity in the medium of interest. Also equal to the square root of the material dielectric constant.
Excess plastic from the molding process that may be re-used in subsequent molding operations. Before it can be reused, regrind must be dried and crushed into small pellets, similar to new material.
See also Regrind Percent.
The proportion of regrind that may be used in a specific molding operation. For quality reasons, housings usually have a maximum allowable percentage of regrind material.
In electronics, the change in value of the output of a generator or power supply. Often expressed as a percent of the rated output voltage.
The outermost covering of a cable that has cable sheath constructed in layers with the addition of a reinforcing material, usually a braided fiber, molded in place between layers.
The ratio of the absolute permeability of a material to that of free space, i.e., µ r = µ / µo, always > or = to 1.
The ratio of the absolute permittivity of a dielectric to that of free space and then termed the (relative) Dielectric Constant: e r = e / eo and always > or = 1 .
See Dielectric Constant.
Relative Velocity of Propagation
The ratio of the absolute velocity of propagation of an electromagnetic signal within given dielectric medium to the absolute velocity of light in air or vacuum, making a fraction, then multiplied by 100 to make a percent. Also known as Percent Velocity of Propagation and vp
An electric magnetic device for remote or automatic control of other devices (as switches) in the same or different circuit.
A socket that accepts a relay.
The amount of external force a switch will overcome at actuation point when returning from overtravel position to free position.
The likelihood that a device will provide the specified performance for a specified time under specified conditions.
Per any cross-section of a magnetic circuit, the ratio of the magnetomotive force to the magnetic flux.
Mobile phone base stations are low-power, multi-channel, two-way radios. A mobile phone is a low-power, single-channel, two-way radio. When you talk on a mobile phone, you are talking to a near-by remote base station. That remote base station will then transmit your call to another remote base station that receives it and sends the connection to the receiver of the call.
A contact that can be mechanically joined to or removed from an insert. Special tools are usually required to lock the contact in place or remove it for repair or replacement.
Ability of a switch to repeat its characteristics from one operation to the next operation.
Any of several system used to store and ship finished products on reels. The most common are:
Position of an actuator when all switch contacts return to positions prior to actuation.
The ability of a material to resume its original state after it has been stretched.
Property of a conductor that determines the current produced by a given difference of potential. The ohm is the practical electrical unit of resistance. The symbol R designates resistance in ohms.
A method of soldering in which current is passed through and heats the soldering area by contact with one or more electrodes.
An RF connector used to terminate open connections, such as those at the end of the line on a LAN.
The ability of a material to resist passage of electrical current either through its bulk or on a surface.
Component that resists or limits the flow of electrical current in a circuit.
An AC condition in which the inductive and capacitive reactances cancel at a certain frequency and cause a minimum or maximum circuit impedance. Also a tuned circuit, e.g., a "tank" circuit, with given C . L reactances, which is then tuned to a certain resonance frequency, important in radio transmission and reception circuits..
A list of all the material, labor, and machine resources required to make a standard quantity of a part and the quantity/time required of each.
A kinked section on the PC tails of Premium line breakaway headers that is designed to keep the PC tail securely attached to the PCB. Also referred to as kinked PC tails.
Radio Electronics Television Manufacturers Association. Now called Electronic Industries Association (EIA).
A cord that has specially treated insulation or jacket so that it will retract like a spring. Retractability may be added to all or part of a cord's length.
The dB expression of the ratio of the reflected power to the incident power (1% reflected power = -20 dB return loss). Return Loss can also be expressed as corresponding voltage or current ratios, respectively.
See also Structural Return Loss, Standing Wave Ratio.
An active circuit element or device similar in material construction and design as that of the Forward Bias Diode, except that the external voltage source is arranged to subtract to the internal potential barrier polarity (instead of adding) of the depletion layer at the interfacial junction of the materials, thus essentially stopping current flow in the direction of the current of the external circuit.
See also Forward Bias Diode, Reverse Bias Diode, Depletion Layer, Barrier Potential.
A connector configuration that allows a connector to be mated from the underside of a PCB by means of an aperture cut in the board. (Normal mating is one the topside of a PCB.)
