Intelliconnect, a leading RF and Microwave interconnect product supplier for many of the leading American and European Defense, Medical, and Marine OEMs, has developed a range of standard and reliable waterproof interconnect solutions. The Pisces Series are waterproof connectors and adapters that are available in multiple connector types including TNC, SMA, N Type and MCX. These connectors can be used in a wide range of industries including personal locator beacon applications.
A UK start-up company was developing a unique Personal Locator Beacon solution to monitor and track items within a given area. The company previously utilized an existing US supplier’s product, however, unreliability of supply and the high cost associated with the connectors was a challenge. They started looking for a series of connectors and cables that could ensure robustness under harsh environmental conditions and that could easily replace the existing supplier’s products.
A range of design and supply of adapters, connectors, and cables of various types and configurations were required that included TNC based connectors – bulkhead jack, reverse polarity bulkhead jack, antenna plug, right angle cable plug, and right angle reverse polarity cable plug, Nim Camac Push-Pull connectors – Bulkhead Jack and Bulkhead Plug, Waterproof (IP68) capability up to 10 m for 4 hours, ensure product was ‘modular’ and not ‘hard wired’, provide significant cost savings over the existing US product, ensure 100% reliability and safety, no NRE (non repeating engineering charge), and duration of 8 weeks to provide samples.
IntelliConnect worked with the company to develop TNC/MCX adapters and cables to overcome various design challenges:
- The right-angle connector design issues were addressed by making the connector low-profile and rounding the corners of the square section of the body.
- The problem of waterproofing both the internal and external parts of the product was resolved by coming up with an O-ring design in a special material that ensured the integrity of the seals at the correct depth for the correct time. The results showed that IntelliConnect has exceeded the company’s requirement by a factor of 6.
- In order to ensure that the design provided modularity, an external TNC to MCX bulkhead adapter was developed to mate to an internal MCX to U.FL cable assembly. Quotation was provided to the customer and reported a cost saving of up to 35%.
Samples were provided to the customer within seven weeks. Intelliconnect provides a range of standard and custom waterproof interconnect solutions for a wide range of applications. Click here to learn more about the Pisces waterproof interconnect solutions.
