Low Loss Coax for Test Equipment

[RCHRDM]

Is an "N SMA" a cable with and N connector on one end and SMA on the other?

Richard

[tautech]

Is an "N SMA" a cable with and N connector on one end and SMA on the other?

Richard

Yes that or an adaptor. Do your homework as there are many different types of SMA ends and for a while they are quite confusing.
I got this SMA adapter set recently and it covers most types:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32915423924.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.14294c4dtHo85K

Some reasonable quality SMA cables here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32854810729.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.14294c4dtHo85K

[RCHRDM]

Thanks.

So, if you are connecting an instrument with an N front panel output connector to another instrument with an N input, do you use adapters to run an SMA cable between the two instruments?

Richard

[tautech]

Thanks.

So, if you are connecting an instrument with an N front panel output connector to another instrument with an N input, do you use adapters to run an SMA cable between the two instruments?

Richard

Yes that's where I slowly heading with my gear, BNC for much but slowly moving to SMA.
Depends on what you need to do. I have 6 GHz N cables and a selection of N type adapters.
Really it's more about the mating cycles lifetime of the front panel connector on your instruments plus how high frequency you're working with that dictates cable type and to some degree the quality of your adapters.

We try first to limit the wear on the connectors on our instruments so pick a connector type for the sacrificial adapter and a cable/connector combo for your everyday use.

The sky's the limit for the cost of high end stuff however up to a GHz or so you might just measure the difference using cheaper stuff.

[RCHRDM]

Thanks.  Good advice.  I am working in the ham band frequencies so not more than 500 MHz most of the time.

Thanks for the great conversation today!

Richard

[tautech]

Thanks.  Good advice.  I am working in the ham band frequencies so not more than 500 MHz most of the time.

Thanks for the great conversation today!

Richard

No problem.
One must remember this cheap stuff is just for LF everyday usage whereas Meteorology grade gear is in a different league. 

[DaJMasta]

Cheap ebay cables can do a reasonable job with that, especially if you're not worried about high power or absolute minimum loss.  If you are worried about the higher quality connectors built onto the instrument, I'd suggest connector savers, basically good quality male to female adapters that you put on the instrument before your cable - that way you minimize the wear cycles on the instrument and prevent any bad connector geometry/torquing from damaging the built in connector.

[mzzj]

Grab a few cheap BNC cables using the chart I posted earlier to give guidance on coax type and frequency specs and for your work you'll probably find them quite OK.
I got a customer 50 odd BNC cables just from an Aliexpress supplier and apart from their crimps being a little 'how ya doing' suited their needs well.
You don't need to spend big bucks for 90% of uses.

My luck with chinese /aliexpress connectors and cables has been pretty much mixed lot. SMA center pins not making contact, plating peeling off(internal shorts, yikes), very wobbly BNC connectors etc.
Oversize center pins that ruin the front connector on your expensive test equipment is the last thing you want..
I have also got decent and usable connectors but I haven't bought enough of anything to say who would be reliable vendor.

Unless you want to get in the cable&connection inspection I'd suggest some low-cost brand-name cables and connectors at least for most commonly used test equipment.

[BravoV]

Cheap ebay cables can do a reasonable job with that, especially if you're not worried about high power or absolute minimum loss.  If you are worried about the higher quality connectors built onto the instrument, I'd suggest connector savers, basically good quality male to female adapters that you put on the instrument before your cable - that way you minimize the wear cycles on the instrument and prevent any bad connector geometry/torquing from damaging the built in connector.

+1 

Consider to equip all those N connectors at the equipment with sacrificial adapters, either native N male to N female, or N male to SMA/BNC, you wont regret it for long run

Example of the right angle N sacrificial adapter that I put at my SA input, right angle adapter is handy as the attached cable can lay down in front of the test device if its placed on table, and connected by cable to the adjacent other test device, instead of protruded out and hanging perpendicularly to the device panel, and at some cases I think the cable is mechanically stressing the connector, especially on stiff/heavy ones.

[Berni]

I agree with BravoV. 90 degree adapters are quite nice connector savers for SAs because if you are using big hefty cables its often more convenient to have the cable go off to the side, just don't rotate the 90 degree adapter when using it, make sure its tightened down and have the cable rest on something.

In my case i also have a inline DC block hanging off it since my SA can't handle any DC at all on its input.

But overall i standardize on SMA cables because SMA is a nice small compact connector that can handle pretty high frequencies, also cables and adapters are easy to find for it. To get to SMA from test equipment i have cables with SMA on one end and N or BNC on the other. For connecting to a circuit i have a box full of cheap Chinese SMA board mount connectors that i solder into my circuit permanently and then just connect my coax to that.

Using adapters is not that bad. Sure you want to use less adapters if you can, but unless you are working at 10GHz and up you are not going to see any signal deterioration from an extra adapter or two. My scopes pretty much have a BNC to SMA adapter permanently live on one of the 4 channels so that i can just plug a SMA cable right into it.

[BravoV]

I agree with BravoV. 90 degree adapters are quite nice connector savers for SAs because if you are using big hefty cables its often more convenient to have the cable go off to the side, just don't rotate the 90 degree adapter when using it, make sure its tightened down and have the cable rest on something.

In my case i also have a inline DC block hanging off it since my SA can't handle any DC at all on its input.

Yep, especially the DC block is permanently attached to the SA, instead of sticking out from the SA's panel, that is prone to accident like unintentionally bumping it, and break/bend the SA's connector  , using a 90 degrees right angle adapter will minimize that risk.

Too bad there is no animal such as a N male to SMA female adapter, but with 90 degrees orientation, that will be perfect. 

[Berni]

I agree with BravoV. 90 degree adapters are quite nice connector savers for SAs because if you are using big hefty cables its often more convenient to have the cable go off to the side, just don't rotate the 90 degree adapter when using it, make sure its tightened down and have the cable rest on something.

In my case i also have a inline DC block hanging off it since my SA can't handle any DC at all on its input.

Yep, especially the DC block is permanently attached to the SA, instead of sticking out from the SA's panel, that is prone to accident like unintentionally bumping it, and break/bend the SA's connector  , using a 90 degrees right angle adapter will minimize that risk.

Too bad there is no animal such as a N male to SMA female adapter, but with 90 degrees orientation, that will be perfect. 

Exactly, especially since my SA sits in a 42U rack where its possible to walk by it.

I do sort of have such an right angle "adapter". Its a 50cm piece of nice thick microwave cable that has a 90 degree N connector on one end and 3.5mm SMA on the other (I have some 3.5mm female to female bulkheads to fit on the end of it). That one sort of permanently lives on my Gigatronics 20GHz synthesizer. I think i got that as part of a pile of old RF cables that looked fancy enough to buy.

[mzzj]

Too bad there is no animal such as a N male to SMA female adapter, but with 90 degrees orientation, that will be perfect. 

Never say never
https://www.centricrf.com/clearance/clearance-adapters-0-18ghz/c3553-sma-f-to-n-m-right-angle-adapter-6-ghz-vswr-1-15-brass/

[BravoV]

As pointed out by others, those various adapters can be cheap ones, but for the sacrificial connector, spare no expense, buy quality top tier brand as they're much-much better than those no brand Aliexpress ones.

Examples of N male to male adapter.
Left one is from Aliexpress vs right Amphenol, I just leave yourself to judge. 

[BravoV]

Too bad there is no animal such as a N male to SMA female adapter, but with 90 degrees orientation, that will be perfect. 

Never say never
https://www.centricrf.com/clearance/clearance-adapters-0-18ghz/c3553-sma-f-to-n-m-right-angle-adapter-6-ghz-vswr-1-15-brass/

Wow ... thank you ! 

[mzzj]

CentricRF webshop looks like treasure trove for anything RF related.
Digikey seem to also have pretty good selection of SMA cables from 10usd to 1000usd

[Berni]

Too bad there is no animal such as a N male to SMA female adapter, but with 90 degrees orientation, that will be perfect. 

Never say never
https://www.centricrf.com/clearance/clearance-adapters-0-18ghz/c3553-sma-f-to-n-m-right-angle-adapter-6-ghz-vswr-1-15-brass/

Oh i might pick up a few of those. Seams to be a reasonable balance between quality and price.

Since yeah be careful with crappy Chinese RF connectors as they can be bad enough to damage connectors they mate it. For microwave stuff i tend to buy old used high quality stuff and inspect them under magnification to make sure they don't look damaged. I don't have the budget to buy only brand new fancy high quality RF connectors.

[BravoV]

I checked.  RG-213 has lower loss than RG-142.

Richard

If you opted for RG-213 cable, which is quite thick & stiff, make sure you have the one that has double shielded as you want minimal lost at RF.

Even at top branded ones, depends on the variants, some have single braided shield only.



Here example of my RG-213 equivalent cable manufactured by Leoni, watch the dual shieldings, the outer 1st layer with braided wires + 2nd layer inner metal foil.

[eb4fbz]

RG-223 is my usual choice for <1GHz lab cables. You will allways have some loss, so i prefer to focus on cable flexibility and shielding quality.

For higher frequencies or precise VNA phase measurements i stick to H+S Sucoflex.

[nctnico]

RG-316 is easy to work with and good up to 1GHz.

[RCHRDM]

RG316 seems to have higher loss that RG58.  Not sure my reference is accurate, though.

Richard

[RCHRDM]

I saw some cables on eBay using LMR-240:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LMR240-Silver-BNC-MALE-to-BNC-MALE-Coax-RF-Cable-USA-Lot/143067828057?var=442029207133

That seems to be low-loss cable.  I kind of prefer using BNC to an N-to BNC adapter on the instrument.  It seems like it would be faster to connect a BNC rather than an SMA.

Richard

[tkamiya]

I buy patch cables from a local cal-house.  I think they were 10 dollars a piece.  Cable itself is TimesMicrowave 195.  I'd be surprised you can actually measure loss at frequency less than 500MHz.  I'd be glad to sell you what I have, since I can easily buy more.

[RCHRDM]

Thanks for the offer!  What connectors?  Lengths?

Richard

[tkamiya]

Connectors are both N.  80 inches long.  I have many other types, too.
Let's take this offline, since it will be no interest to others in the thread.

tkamiya9(at)yahoo(dot)com