DIN connectors

[BJ_NORTON]

I've been looking at eBay for an economic source of premade heliax cables, but it seems most of them have at least one 7-16 DIN connector installed. I have no idea what a DIN connector is, or what industry uses it. All Wikipedia can tell me is that is "a high-power 50 Ω connector originally developed by Spinner."

Can anyone shed some light on who uses this type of connector? And is it heresy to chop one off and install an N connector?


Thanks!

 

[TelcomJunkie]

They're primarily coming out of the cellular industry. In comparison to N connectors, they generally handle higher transmit levels at lower VSWR levels and the connector design itself lends to a much more stable electrical and mechanical connection when used with heliax.

If you don't have DIN connectors on your equipment you'll need to use an adapter which will negate any benefit the connectors give you so feel free to cut 'em off and replace with N connectors if they will direct connect to your equipment.

 

[rfradioconsult]

Search for LDF4-50a which is 1/2inch Heliax. You will need to specify the type of connectors you need when ordering. The connectors run about $25 each, you can get type N male or female, or UHF type male or female. If you have never put connector on it can be tricky without the proper tools.

 

[SCPD]

Not much help but ...

We did a Heliax installation once, and the connectors were made by Andrews.
Not much help, sorry.

 

[rfradioconsult]

DIN connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector
A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN), the German national standards organization.

 

[mmckenna]

A common error I've seen some make:

It is a 7-16 DIN connector. It is NOT a 7/16th's DIN connector!

7mm inside diameter, 16mm outside diameter.
Highly reliable connector, can handle a lot of power and good up into the GHz range. We have some 800MHz antennas at work that have 7-16 connectors, while others have N's. Our TX combiner on our trunked system uses the 7-16 connectors on the output. Every cellular panel antenna I've seen installed in the last few years uses these connectors.

As for cutting them off, no problem at all. Just hang onto them, they can often be salvaged. It's not uncommon to see cut-offs sold on e-Bay.

 

[mikewazowski]

The EME guys love DIN connectors because of their power handling capabilities.

 

[mpddigital]

DIN connectors are best for a number of commercial applications as well as being very popular in Europe. You actually will end up with a minor difference in loss between N and DIN depending on frequencies and power used. We have some shorter pre-made runs of Times/Amphenol and Andrew Heliax cable in the warehouse with N connectors installed. I think they run from 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch in different lengths.

If you want, shoot me a PM and let me know what length you are looking for.

 

[greenthumb]

They are used in LMR and trunking applications, in particular at the output of transmitter combiners as well as the input to transmit antennas. As was mentioned in earlier posts, they are good for higher power applications (i.e. trunking, where several transmitters are typically combined into a single transmit antenna) and they are also relatively less susceptible to creating intermodulation products. Generally, the larger the connector, the less intermodulation it produces.

You're probably going to pay more for a chunk of cable with a DIN connector on it, but there is nothing wrong with removing the DIN and putting on an N. If you don't need the DIN and just want some cable to put your own N connectors on, go to Tessco and find the cable you want and just buy it by the foot and get your own connectors. You'll probably save money that way.

 

[rfradioconsult]

The reason that DIN connectors are superior to N connectors isn't the loss or power handling ability but IM distortion when running multiple digital transmitters into a common feedline/antenna system.

 

[BJ_NORTON]

Cool, thanks for the information guys! I have been looking for "cheap" high quality coax for a repeater project. I've seen some pretty good deals on ebay that is much cheaper than buying brand new buy the foot. I also saw an option on a folded dipole array (I think it was a Sinclair) that had a 7-16 DIN connector as the connector for the phasing harness. Now that I know what they are, I've seen them mentioned a few other places too.

DIN connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector
A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN), the German national standards organization.

rfradioconsult, wikipedia was the first place I looked, but if you look at the page you will see there is no mention of any sort of RF connector. That page talks about the small round connector used for audio and computer keyboards.

This page: wikipedia.org/wiki/RF_connector mentions the 7-16 DIN connector as the very first standard type, but never explained what it was