F Type Connector for TV Coax Cables

The F connector or F-type connector is a form of coax cable connector that is widely used with domestic television equipment.The F connector is cheap and can perform to frequencies in excess of 2 GHz making it ideal for terrestrial and satellite links between antennas / down-converters or LNBs and the television itself.

In Europe, cables for down-converted satellite signals that fall between 950–2150 MHz from LNBs and DC power and block signalling from satellite receivers exclusively use F connectors.

The connector is usually used with RG-6/U cable, although it can also be used with the older RG-59/U cable.

The F type connector provides some significant improvements over the Belling Lee connectors (IEC 61169 part 2) that are widely used in Europe. These connectors were developed around 1922 and naturally their performance is not up to that of UHF TV.

F connector development

The F connector was developed in the USA in the 1950s by Eric E Winston of Jerrold Electronics, a company that was developing equipment for the domestic TV cable market.

The connector became widely adopted for VHF and then UHF television in the USA. It was cheap and performed well within domestic TV situations.

With the globalisation of TV equipment, and the wider adopting of satellite TV, the connector has come into more global use, first for satellite TV and then for terrestrial TV cables.

With its increased use it has been standardised by the International Electrotechnical Commission under its standard IEC 60169 which standardised radio frequency connectors.

F connector basics

The F type connector is an inexpensive connector that provides the required performance for many domestic TV related applications. The connector has male and female connections, uses a threaded outer to provide reliable contacts and it provides good 75Ω match for signals extending well above 1 GHz.

The thread for the F-type connector is a 3?8 in-32 unified extra fine (UNEF) thread. The female connector has a receptacle for the centre conductor and a barrel containing the spacing dielectric on the inside and on the outside is the thread.

The male has a captive nut with a thread on the inside and the centre pin - typically this is the centre conductor of the coax itself. The connectors are arranged so that the dielectrics of the two halves are in contact, thereby producing an almost constant impedance across the connectors. In this way, the male F connector consists of only a body, which is generally crimped onto or screwed over the cable shielding braid, and a captive nut. These do not require tight tolerances and this means costs can be controlled. Push-on versions are also available.

What is the best BNC connector? This article will discuss some of the most popular options that are available and present videos on how to connect these types of BNC connectors to coax cable. I hope that it will help readers decide which is the best choice for them.

BNC connectors are used in video applications with RG59 and RG6 coaxial cable. They are the industry standard connector for CCTV video surveillance systems. Almost always, devices such as CCTV cameras, surveillance DVRs, and security monitors have a BNC female video input or output on them. So, the coaxial cable that connects these types of devices needs to have BNC male connectors on both ends of the cable run.

Crimp-on BNC connectors are available in two styles: 2 piece and 3 piece. The two piece style is much more popular, so that is the type that we will discuss here. Installation using two piece BNC crimp-on connectors requires two tools: a coax cable stripper and a coax crimping tool. The attachment process takes a little longer than the other methods, but this is still a favorite among professional installers because the connector stays very secure when done.

Please watch the below video to see how BNC crimp-on connectors are attached to RG59 cable.

What Does IEC Connector Mean?

An IEC connector refers to a type of electronic cable that meet the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards. The specification for IEC connectors is IEC-60320. The connectors mount with cables are commonly referred to as female connectors or sockets, whereas the connectors mount with panels are known as male connectors or plugs.

IEC-60320 is a standard for male and female connectors used in cables and electric devices such as computers, workstations, laptops, printers and so on. Note that the IEC-60320 standard applies to different range and types of electrical devices. There is a range of standardized connectors that differ in regards to current capacities, temperature ratings and number of conductors. The main purpose of these cables is to attach an electronic appliance to its power source.