7 ms·

Digikey's Physical Connectors Tutorial

124 points by dragontamer 3y ago

dragontamer 3y ago
Though physical connectors in electronics are a boring subject, I do think its one of the "important" subjects that's commonly overlooked in electronics tutorials or books. The fact is that there are many companies with many combinations of connectors and wires. Much as how a mechanical engineer has to inevitably learn the difference from a Philips head screw vs a Torx screw, electrical engineers will need to learn the difference between D-Sub, 0.1" pin headers, and other such connectors, as well as the pros/cons of each.
- zgluck 3y ago
  Im my experience: If there's one thing that makes sense to stock at your own little lab - to avoid waiting 1-3 days for getting that little thing that blocks that project you want to complete - it's a wide assortment of connectors. The rest can often be improvised in many ways using various microcontroller boards and voltage level converters etc that you'll probabably already have. The next most useful thing: A great assortment of fasteners! I think the thing to do here is to buy like M2x60 through M10x60 (A4 stainless, insex screws) and then use that nut-retapping trick to get that custom screw length that you need. "Do you mean cutting the screw to length with a nut on it, which then fixes the thread as you unfasten it?" Yes. Looks like I've been too chatty for today, HN's rate limiting brutally tells me to shut the fuck up. (The especially evil thing about this: You don't know until you press submit if your comment will be accepted or not. You could be writing the greatest comment of the week, but you have no idea if it will be automatically refused or not. You can only write and hope for the best. Fuck everything about that.)
  - fest 3y ago
    Google is really not helpful in finding out what the nut-retapping trick is :> Do you mean cutting the screw to length with a nut on it, which then fixes the thread as you unfasten it?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - gtvwill 3y ago
      This works well. I would suggest acquiring a triangle file and a blade file. You can fix cut thread ends easy and even some cross threaded sections. You don't always have nuts to go on threads items. E.g. when a rod is threading into a block.
- quenix 3y ago
  I might be a bit weird, but I find fitting proper connectors onto hardware super satisfying. I suppose I see a good connector as a good polish to an interface, similar to what might be found in software, for example. I get the same type of satisfaction that comes from polishing the interface for some API or other product I’ve been working on for a while. It just makes it feel more like a finished product. The final touch. The step moving away from jerryrig wires and oscilloscope probes to rugged connectors.
  - bb88 3y ago
    Call me weird but I enjoy the LEMO connectors. I've used them for over a decade, and they just feel nice to plug in and remove.
    - OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
      Not weird at all! I've gotten lost in old LEMO catalogs many times.
    - wildzzz 3y ago
      I've seen racks of CAMAC modules that all use LEMO. I rarely see them elsewhere. I've heard they are very popular in Europe.
      - bb88 3y ago
        So 3d maker pro is selling affordable 3d scanners with LEMO connectors on them. I've also seen them in military type gear.
  - TOGoS 3y ago
    I will often spend hours researching different kinds of electrical connectors instead of....any other thing that I'm actually supposed to be doing. If I am feeling extra depressed I'll go order myself some Anderson PowerPole housings or maybe a kit of aviation connectors. Or read http://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/dupont-and-dupont-connectors/ http://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/dupont-and-d... yet again.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
foobarbecue 3y ago
Why are crimping tools always so dang expensive?
- flaviut 3y ago
  Low volume, and everyone who isn't a big company just buys clones. If you are a company or care about reliability, you have to get the OEM version but hopeful you amortize it over thousands of crimps.
- fest 3y ago
  My guess is that they need to be cut using EDM (slow) and need expensive CMM machines to make sure the resulting die shapes match the tolerance. I know you're probably referring to OEM hand crimping tools that cost on the order of 500€/$, but even decent quality non-OEM tools (e.g. Engineer PAD-11) aren't exactly cheap. Though, I hear IWISS ones are usable if you're on a budget.
  - dymk 3y ago
    The generics are pretty cheap, but I guess it's a relative matter. I got a PA-20 for $35 on Amazon and it works with all the Molex micro-fit I've thrown at it. Each crimp takes much longer than if I had the $500 purpose-built tool from Molex itself, but I do so few it doesn't matter.
- 83 3y ago
  The higher end (Daniels / DMC) are very precise tools that you should calibrate with a go/no go gauge. If you handle one you can see why they are fairly expensive - everything is precise, heavy, and without slop and must remain so over thousands of crimps.
mberning 3y ago
This is such a rabbit hole. The automotive/milspec side of things is very deep. I ended up building a $1000 wiring harness for my $500 riding mower. Madness.
mitthrowaway2 3y ago
This is a good tutorial. Connectors are very tricky purchases; even if you do know exactly what you want, it's easy to buy the wrong version of a part, or forget to buy a necessary part of an assembly, or struggle to find the correctly-mating part that you know you need, or lack the crimping tool that goes with it, and so on. And they are expensive, so errors are costly. The difficulty, and cost, is why a lot of hobbyists (and even professionals) often stick to the same few connectors that they are familiar with. But sometimes you need to branch out; maybe you need something waterproof, or something which handles higher current, etc, and then you can spend hours looking through catalogs.
- tinco 3y ago
  Is there a connector/crimp tool set that's recommended for hobbyists? I make just a couple devices per year in a year where I'm actively pursuing the hobby. Mostly audio, some home automation and on the fence if I should dive a bit deeper into either synthesizers or robotics. Up to now I've only done screw terminals and soldered plugs. Spending even a couple hundred bucks on a single crimp tool seems like such a hurdle, especially as basically every tutorial or open source design I see seems to be using different connectors. edit: nvm, I just never did proper research. It seems like you can get a high quality crimping tool like the Engineer Pad-11 for just ~50 bucks and it does a bunch of common connectors like JST-SHD. I don't know why I thought I had to spend hundreds on single purpose tools.
theamk 3y ago
I had to read this twice.. why on earth would one want just a single power pin? > designed to have four signal pins and one power pin turns out it is a typo. Datasheet shows one signal and four power pins.
sublinear 3y ago
> Figure 6: Assmann’s AWP 10-7240-T ten position, free hanging socket. I giggled at this.
kimburgess 3y ago
One that's not mentioned in the article, but is a beautiful assembly of engineering is all of the https://www.neutrik.com/ https://www.neutrik.com/ connectors - speakON, powerCON, etherCON, opticalCON etc. Amazing solid bits of hardware with ingress protection, strain relief, and good usability for environments with a lot of equipment movement.
mdaniel 3y ago
And then there's the madness that is the physical USB-C plug which is sometimes also Thunderbolt over the same connector: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-4-vs-usb-c.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-tec... along with sometimes DisplayPort and/or HDMI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#Alternate_Mode_partner_specifications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#Alternate_Mode_partner_s... I will presumably forever be mystified why I can only get "fast charging" on my Pixel 4a with USB-C-to-USB-C into the Google power brick, and never USB-A-to-USB-C into any power brick labeled as "fast charge"
- Tijdreiziger 3y ago
  > USB-C-to-USB-C into the Google power brick This is USB Power Delivery (USB-PD for short). It is exclusive to the USB Type-C connector, and will work with any Type-C, PD-compatible charging brick. Bricks with various wattages are available (e.g. for charging PD-compatible laptops as well as phones). > USB-A-to-USB-C into any power brick labeled as "fast charge" This is legacy fast charging via any of a myriad of proprietary FC standards (Qualcomm QC, Samsung AFC, Apple 2.4A, etc., etc.) Since your Pixel does not support any proprietary fast charging standards, it will not work.
  - avhon1 3y ago
    USB-PD is not exclusive to the USB-C connector. USB-PD rev. 1 was finalized in 2012, whereas USB-C 1.0 was finalized in 2014.
    - rcxdude 3y ago
      This is technically correct but AFAIK USB-PD 1.0 saw essentially zero adoption.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- qiqitori 3y ago
  Power Delivery ("PD") requires chips inside the cable's connectors to work. The chips provide information on the cable's capabilities. No chip, then standard voltage, standard current only. Thunderbolt is 40 Gbit/s over two serial lanes. That's 20 billion bits per second over a single link. I'm not an expert in this field (i.e., the field of high-throughput cables) at all, but that doesn't sound very realistic to me for regular cabling. But I guess the use of copper, gold contacts(?), differential signaling, shortness of the cable (or alternatively active components), and an immense amount of shielding make it possible. These cables are quite expensive.
inamberclad 3y ago
I've been on a MIL-DTL-38999 journey over the last few weeks. There's a lot of surplus tooling on Ebay, and they're by far the best connectors I've ever used. Rugged, really high pin density, and impossible to insert wrong. The prices are high for new tools, but there's tons of surplus floating around thanks to government standards. There's also solder-cup versions of a lot of the connectors so that no crimp tools are required. If you want to use the crimped versions, you'll want the M22520/1 basic tool or M22520/2 miniature tool for smaller wire gauges. You'll also need a positioner to hold the crimp in the right position within the tool (these are interchangeable for a ton of different models). You'll probably want the M22520/1-04 turret head. A Chinese company called JReady sells new crimp tools with the positioners for $300. It sounds like a lot, but it's much less than the $800 American made tool and even less than the single purpose crimp hand tools for cheaper Molex and JST connectors. One tool standard, lots of different high quality connectors!
- techdragon 3y ago
  I went down this road a bit too for a project where I wanted to minimise the enclosure complexity, keep everything in and out of the box to nice circular conectors... and yeah it was tempting to get into the MIL-DTL-38999 train, but I needed some high amperage low voltage DC stuff for power (it was a 3d printer project and I needed stuff like 8-14 Amps and 24-48V DC for various heaters, and a lot of these are nice for high density data, but its hard to find one that can do multiple higher power connections. I ended up giving up since I would find so many that got close but in the end the project form factor changed due to cooling issues (larger enclosure for more airflow due to insufficient fan static pressure) They are definitely cool connectors though if you only need a bunch of data and don't need the higher power density I needed at the time.
  - mlyle 3y ago
    The size 12 contacts can do 15-25A. There's e.g. the Amphenol size 25 / 24 connection version, with 12 high current contacts and 12 smaller contacts. There's not too many that have a variety of pin sizes and that are military qualified, though. And it's not cheap stuff, for sure.
alanbernstein 3y ago
One of the best connector resources I've found: https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/ https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/
- MrBuddyCasino 3y ago
  This is very good, thanks!
none_to_remain 3y ago
I had a laugh at the idea of ONE ARTICLE about CONNECTORS but this was surprisingly thorough
amelius 3y ago
Anyone have a good suggestion for a connector that allows stacking of pcbs (so they are parallel to eachother)?
- 83 3y ago
  I commonly see the .1" pin headers (single or dual row) and sockets used for this. https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors/pcb-connectors/board-to-board-connectors/board-to-board-headers-receptacles.html?tab=pgp-story https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors/pcb-connectors...
  - amelius 3y ago
    Yes, this is what I use now, SMD versions of the .1" pin headers (SMD allows to stack indefinitely), but: - The distances you can get are limited to a small range (roughly the height of the male header pins). - The 1-row versions are not shrouded, meaning that it's easy to mis-plug the pcbs (put pin 1 into the slot for pin 2 accidentally). A Sullins connector doesn't have this problem, but of course doesn't allow parallel mounting of pcbs but at a 90 degree angle.
zokier 3y ago
One thing that startled me was how low the mating cycle ratings of some connectors are, especially in the fancier end of the spectrum. For example u.fl coax connectors which are fairly common in computing are rated to only 30 cycles, and same is for the df40 connector in Raspberry Pi CM4. Of course those ratings are probably fairly conservative, but still it has made me bit more conscious when continuously plugging/unplugging stuff.
andoma 3y ago
For a recent project of mine I tried a few different connector types but eventually ended up just using RJ-45 (ie Ethernet) connectors. Relatively cheap pre-made cables of almost any length. Twisted pairs also makes it useful for balanced signals. Main downside is the relatively low current rating but that was not a too big of a concern for this application.
- willis936 3y ago
  I'm doing the same. L-com makes a solid 24 AWG, double shielded, LSZH Cat5E cable that is just about perfect. https://www.l-com.com/ethernet-cat5e-double-shielded-ethernet-cable-24-awg-solid-lszh-industrial-ethernet-patch-cords-gray https://www.l-com.com/ethernet-cat5e-double-shielded-etherne...

124 points by dragontamer 3y ago

Though physical connectors in electronics are a boring subject, I do think its one of the "important" subjects that's commonly overlooked in electronics tutorials or books. The fact is that there are many companies with many combinations of connectors and wires. Much as how a mechanical engineer has to inevitably learn the difference from a Philips head screw vs a Torx screw, electrical engineers will need to learn the difference between D-Sub, 0.1" pin headers, and other such connectors, as well as the pros/cons of each.

zgluck 3y ago
Im my experience: If there's one thing that makes sense to stock at your own little lab - to avoid waiting 1-3 days for getting that little thing that blocks that project you want to complete - it's a wide assortment of connectors. The rest can often be improvised in many ways using various microcontroller boards and voltage level converters etc that you'll probabably already have. The next most useful thing: A great assortment of fasteners! I think the thing to do here is to buy like M2x60 through M10x60 (A4 stainless, insex screws) and then use that nut-retapping trick to get that custom screw length that you need. "Do you mean cutting the screw to length with a nut on it, which then fixes the thread as you unfasten it?" Yes. Looks like I've been too chatty for today, HN's rate limiting brutally tells me to shut the fuck up. (The especially evil thing about this: You don't know until you press submit if your comment will be accepted or not. You could be writing the greatest comment of the week, but you have no idea if it will be automatically refused or not. You can only write and hope for the best. Fuck everything about that.)
- fest 3y ago
  Google is really not helpful in finding out what the nut-retapping trick is :> Do you mean cutting the screw to length with a nut on it, which then fixes the thread as you unfasten it?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - gtvwill 3y ago
    This works well. I would suggest acquiring a triangle file and a blade file. You can fix cut thread ends easy and even some cross threaded sections. You don't always have nuts to go on threads items. E.g. when a rod is threading into a block.
quenix 3y ago
I might be a bit weird, but I find fitting proper connectors onto hardware super satisfying. I suppose I see a good connector as a good polish to an interface, similar to what might be found in software, for example. I get the same type of satisfaction that comes from polishing the interface for some API or other product I’ve been working on for a while. It just makes it feel more like a finished product. The final touch. The step moving away from jerryrig wires and oscilloscope probes to rugged connectors.
- bb88 3y ago
  Call me weird but I enjoy the LEMO connectors. I've used them for over a decade, and they just feel nice to plug in and remove.
  - OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
    Not weird at all! I've gotten lost in old LEMO catalogs many times.
  - wildzzz 3y ago
    I've seen racks of CAMAC modules that all use LEMO. I rarely see them elsewhere. I've heard they are very popular in Europe.
    - bb88 3y ago
      So 3d maker pro is selling affordable 3d scanners with LEMO connectors on them. I've also seen them in military type gear.
- TOGoS 3y ago
  I will often spend hours researching different kinds of electrical connectors instead of....any other thing that I'm actually supposed to be doing. If I am feeling extra depressed I'll go order myself some Anderson PowerPole housings or maybe a kit of aviation connectors. Or read http://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/dupont-and-dupont-connectors/ http://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/dupont-and-d... yet again.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

foobarbecue 3y ago

Why are crimping tools always so dang expensive?

flaviut 3y ago
Low volume, and everyone who isn't a big company just buys clones. If you are a company or care about reliability, you have to get the OEM version but hopeful you amortize it over thousands of crimps.
fest 3y ago
My guess is that they need to be cut using EDM (slow) and need expensive CMM machines to make sure the resulting die shapes match the tolerance. I know you're probably referring to OEM hand crimping tools that cost on the order of 500€/$, but even decent quality non-OEM tools (e.g. Engineer PAD-11) aren't exactly cheap. Though, I hear IWISS ones are usable if you're on a budget.
- dymk 3y ago
  The generics are pretty cheap, but I guess it's a relative matter. I got a PA-20 for $35 on Amazon and it works with all the Molex micro-fit I've thrown at it. Each crimp takes much longer than if I had the $500 purpose-built tool from Molex itself, but I do so few it doesn't matter.
83 3y ago
The higher end (Daniels / DMC) are very precise tools that you should calibrate with a go/no go gauge. If you handle one you can see why they are fairly expensive - everything is precise, heavy, and without slop and must remain so over thousands of crimps.

mberning 3y ago

This is such a rabbit hole. The automotive/milspec side of things is very deep. I ended up building a $1000 wiring harness for my $500 riding mower. Madness.

mitthrowaway2 3y ago

This is a good tutorial. Connectors are very tricky purchases; even if you do know exactly what you want, it's easy to buy the wrong version of a part, or forget to buy a necessary part of an assembly, or struggle to find the correctly-mating part that you know you need, or lack the crimping tool that goes with it, and so on. And they are expensive, so errors are costly. The difficulty, and cost, is why a lot of hobbyists (and even professionals) often stick to the same few connectors that they are familiar with. But sometimes you need to branch out; maybe you need something waterproof, or something which handles higher current, etc, and then you can spend hours looking through catalogs.

tinco 3y ago
Is there a connector/crimp tool set that's recommended for hobbyists? I make just a couple devices per year in a year where I'm actively pursuing the hobby. Mostly audio, some home automation and on the fence if I should dive a bit deeper into either synthesizers or robotics. Up to now I've only done screw terminals and soldered plugs. Spending even a couple hundred bucks on a single crimp tool seems like such a hurdle, especially as basically every tutorial or open source design I see seems to be using different connectors. edit: nvm, I just never did proper research. It seems like you can get a high quality crimping tool like the Engineer Pad-11 for just ~50 bucks and it does a bunch of common connectors like JST-SHD. I don't know why I thought I had to spend hundreds on single purpose tools.

theamk 3y ago

I had to read this twice.. why on earth would one want just a single power pin? > designed to have four signal pins and one power pin turns out it is a typo. Datasheet shows one signal and four power pins.

sublinear 3y ago

> Figure 6: Assmann’s AWP 10-7240-T ten position, free hanging socket. I giggled at this.

kimburgess 3y ago

One that's not mentioned in the article, but is a beautiful assembly of engineering is all of the https://www.neutrik.com/ https://www.neutrik.com/ connectors - speakON, powerCON, etherCON, opticalCON etc. Amazing solid bits of hardware with ingress protection, strain relief, and good usability for environments with a lot of equipment movement.

mdaniel 3y ago

And then there's the madness that is the physical USB-C plug which is sometimes also Thunderbolt over the same connector: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-4-vs-usb-c.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-tec... along with sometimes DisplayPort and/or HDMI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#Alternate_Mode_partner_specifications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#Alternate_Mode_partner_s... I will presumably forever be mystified why I can only get "fast charging" on my Pixel 4a with USB-C-to-USB-C into the Google power brick, and never USB-A-to-USB-C into any power brick labeled as "fast charge"

Tijdreiziger 3y ago
> USB-C-to-USB-C into the Google power brick This is USB Power Delivery (USB-PD for short). It is exclusive to the USB Type-C connector, and will work with any Type-C, PD-compatible charging brick. Bricks with various wattages are available (e.g. for charging PD-compatible laptops as well as phones). > USB-A-to-USB-C into any power brick labeled as "fast charge" This is legacy fast charging via any of a myriad of proprietary FC standards (Qualcomm QC, Samsung AFC, Apple 2.4A, etc., etc.) Since your Pixel does not support any proprietary fast charging standards, it will not work.
- avhon1 3y ago
  USB-PD is not exclusive to the USB-C connector. USB-PD rev. 1 was finalized in 2012, whereas USB-C 1.0 was finalized in 2014.
  - rcxdude 3y ago
    This is technically correct but AFAIK USB-PD 1.0 saw essentially zero adoption.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
qiqitori 3y ago
Power Delivery ("PD") requires chips inside the cable's connectors to work. The chips provide information on the cable's capabilities. No chip, then standard voltage, standard current only. Thunderbolt is 40 Gbit/s over two serial lanes. That's 20 billion bits per second over a single link. I'm not an expert in this field (i.e., the field of high-throughput cables) at all, but that doesn't sound very realistic to me for regular cabling. But I guess the use of copper, gold contacts(?), differential signaling, shortness of the cable (or alternatively active components), and an immense amount of shielding make it possible. These cables are quite expensive.

inamberclad 3y ago

I've been on a MIL-DTL-38999 journey over the last few weeks. There's a lot of surplus tooling on Ebay, and they're by far the best connectors I've ever used. Rugged, really high pin density, and impossible to insert wrong. The prices are high for new tools, but there's tons of surplus floating around thanks to government standards. There's also solder-cup versions of a lot of the connectors so that no crimp tools are required. If you want to use the crimped versions, you'll want the M22520/1 basic tool or M22520/2 miniature tool for smaller wire gauges. You'll also need a positioner to hold the crimp in the right position within the tool (these are interchangeable for a ton of different models). You'll probably want the M22520/1-04 turret head. A Chinese company called JReady sells new crimp tools with the positioners for $300. It sounds like a lot, but it's much less than the $800 American made tool and even less than the single purpose crimp hand tools for cheaper Molex and JST connectors. One tool standard, lots of different high quality connectors!

techdragon 3y ago
I went down this road a bit too for a project where I wanted to minimise the enclosure complexity, keep everything in and out of the box to nice circular conectors... and yeah it was tempting to get into the MIL-DTL-38999 train, but I needed some high amperage low voltage DC stuff for power (it was a 3d printer project and I needed stuff like 8-14 Amps and 24-48V DC for various heaters, and a lot of these are nice for high density data, but its hard to find one that can do multiple higher power connections. I ended up giving up since I would find so many that got close but in the end the project form factor changed due to cooling issues (larger enclosure for more airflow due to insufficient fan static pressure) They are definitely cool connectors though if you only need a bunch of data and don't need the higher power density I needed at the time.
- mlyle 3y ago
  The size 12 contacts can do 15-25A. There's e.g. the Amphenol size 25 / 24 connection version, with 12 high current contacts and 12 smaller contacts. There's not too many that have a variety of pin sizes and that are military qualified, though. And it's not cheap stuff, for sure.

alanbernstein 3y ago

One of the best connector resources I've found: https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/ https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/

MrBuddyCasino 3y ago
This is very good, thanks!

none_to_remain 3y ago

I had a laugh at the idea of ONE ARTICLE about CONNECTORS but this was surprisingly thorough

amelius 3y ago

Anyone have a good suggestion for a connector that allows stacking of pcbs (so they are parallel to eachother)?

83 3y ago
I commonly see the .1" pin headers (single or dual row) and sockets used for this. https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors/pcb-connectors/board-to-board-connectors/board-to-board-headers-receptacles.html?tab=pgp-story https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors/pcb-connectors...
- amelius 3y ago
  Yes, this is what I use now, SMD versions of the .1" pin headers (SMD allows to stack indefinitely), but: - The distances you can get are limited to a small range (roughly the height of the male header pins). - The 1-row versions are not shrouded, meaning that it's easy to mis-plug the pcbs (put pin 1 into the slot for pin 2 accidentally). A Sullins connector doesn't have this problem, but of course doesn't allow parallel mounting of pcbs but at a 90 degree angle.

zokier 3y ago

One thing that startled me was how low the mating cycle ratings of some connectors are, especially in the fancier end of the spectrum. For example u.fl coax connectors which are fairly common in computing are rated to only 30 cycles, and same is for the df40 connector in Raspberry Pi CM4. Of course those ratings are probably fairly conservative, but still it has made me bit more conscious when continuously plugging/unplugging stuff.

andoma 3y ago

For a recent project of mine I tried a few different connector types but eventually ended up just using RJ-45 (ie Ethernet) connectors. Relatively cheap pre-made cables of almost any length. Twisted pairs also makes it useful for balanced signals. Main downside is the relatively low current rating but that was not a too big of a concern for this application.

willis936 3y ago
I'm doing the same. L-com makes a solid 24 AWG, double shielded, LSZH Cat5E cable that is just about perfect. https://www.l-com.com/ethernet-cat5e-double-shielded-ethernet-cable-24-awg-solid-lszh-industrial-ethernet-patch-cords-gray https://www.l-com.com/ethernet-cat5e-double-shielded-etherne...