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Caring for Connectors
Adapters
Adapters
Adapters are used to connect a device with one connector interface to a device or to
test equipment that has another interface, or to reduce wear on connectors that may
be difficult or expensive to replace. Reducing wear is possibly the most important
use of adapters, especially when devices that have SMA connectors are being used.
SMA connectors are low-cost connectors generally used up to about 23GHz. They
are not precision mechanical devices and are not designed for repeated connections
and disconnections as they wear out quickly and are very often found, upon
assembly, to be out of specification, even before they have been used. This makes
them potentially destructive to any precision 3.5mm connectors with which they
might be mated.
CAUTION
Worn, damaged, or out-of-specification SMA connectors can destroy a precision
3.5mm connector even on the very first connection. For this reason it is
recommended that you use high-quality precision adapters, sometimes called
"connector savers", whenever more than a few connections are to be made between
SMA and precision 3.5mm connectors.
In most applications two adapters will be required, one each at the input and the
output of the device. Male-female adapters cause no change in the sex of the
interface. The same interface is presented when the adapter is in place as is
presented in the original setup.
Same-sex adapters (male-male, female-female) change the sex of the interface. For
example, if the original interface presents a male connector, attaching a
female-female adapter will result in a female interface to which devices or cables
that have male SMA (or male precision 3.5mm) connectors can be connected.
Adapters are included in many Agilent calibration kits and with many Agilent
devices, or they may be ordered separately.
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Appendix D
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