Connectors UK
Welcome to Softei, the electronics industry’s version of those well-known consumer sites that bring you loads of special money-saving offers and promotions. We help direct our customers to a huge range of electronic cables and connectors via a number of high quality distribution companies.
Complete Range of Cables & Connectors
In electronics, connectors are one of those things we tend to take for granted. They’re just something hanging off the end of a cable so we can plug and unplug power or signals on some circuit.
We can help to ensure that our customers are pointed towards all manner of cables and connector requirements, including network cables and communications cables, computer cables, and industrial and audio/video connectors, such as jacks, plugs, terminal blocks, adaptors and sockets.
Besides the obvious, such as having the right number of pins, there are several things to consider when choosing a connector:
- Cost: Do you have to compromise on quality if you wish to keep costs to a minimum.
- Durability: Is it going to be plugged and unplugged once a year, or ten times a day?
- Environment: Will it be exposed to the weather, such as on an outdoors antenna? How about salt water, such as on a boat? Will it be subject to vibration, such as on a machine? Is someone likely to step on it?
- Signals Type: Is it for power and ground? For analog or digital signals? If analog, what frequency? Is it audio or RF? If digital, what clock speed or bit rate?
- Power Level: If it’s for power, is it for 24 Volts? Or 240 Volts? Or 2,400 Volts? Will it carry 0.25 Amps? Or 2.5 Amps? Or 25 Amps? Higher currents require larger, thicker pins. Higher voltages require more insulation.
- Signal Level: Is it for 2 Volt signals or 2 microVolt signals? Will the current be 5 milliAmps or 5 microAmps? Connectors used for very low signal levels (so-called “dry circuits”) often have gold plated pins.
- Second Sources: Is it a standard type of connector available from many manufacturers, or is it available only from one company?
Leading brands include Connectix, Alpha Wire, Mini5, Hellermann Tyton, ABB, Elkay, IMO and CamdenBoss.
Further Information
If you would like any further information from the team at Softei, please contact us on either Tel. No. 01483 410 877, via e-mail at info@softei.com or via our Facebook page, and we’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.
