[comp.dcom.telecom] The Origin of Coax Connector Names: BNC & TNC

daryl@tcomeng.uucp (Daryl Jones) (12/03/89)

The following message was posted to my BBS a few days ago. I thought
the net would be interested...
 
  >Fm: PHIL RANE (Compuserve 74075,1244)
  >To: all 
 
Some time ago we had a lengthy discussion about the origins of the
coax connector names such as BNC, TNC, etc. I have just come across an
article in QST, a Ham magazine that I think is the real McCoy. I would
like to share it with you. 

Quoting: During WWII, the requirements for connectors better than the
UHF PL-259 and SO-239 ones, to be used for radar use, prompted two
designs.  The first was developed at Bell Labs by Paul Neill and
identified as the type N connector. At the same time, another
connector was devised by Carl Concelman.  

Named the type C connector, it was the first designed as a true 50-ohm
connector.  Later, Neill and Concelman collaborated on the design of a
minature bayonet locking connector. This was dubbed the Bayonet
Neill-Concelman, or BNC connector. Some time after that, an improved,
threaded version for airborne use was developed and called the
Threaded Neill-Concelman or TNC connector. 

For precise microwave use, a series of subminature connectors was
produced- A, B, and C. Of these three, the A, or subminature (SMA) is
the most popular. QED!
 
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"Scott D. Green" <GREEN@wharton.upenn.edu> (12/04/89)

The legend, as told by a foreign-born professor of electrical
engineering here at Penn, is that the BNC conncector is so named
because it is a Berry Nice Connector.

Scott Green

rfarris@serene.UUCP (Rick Farris) (12/05/89)

In article <1787@accuvax.nwu.edu> GREEN@wharton.upenn.edu (Scott D. Green) 
writes:

> ... that the BNC conncector is so named because it is a Berry Nice
> Connector.

We always called them "Baby N Connectors" and "Tiny N Connectors"...


Rick Farris   RF Engineering  POB M  Del Mar, CA  92014   voice (619) 259-6793
rfarris@serene.uu.net      ...!uunet!serene!rfarris       serene.UUCP 259-7757

erc@cs.utexas.edu (Edwin R. Carp) (12/05/89)

In article <1767@accuvax.nwu.edu> daryl@tcomeng.uucp (Daryl Jones) writes:
>X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 548, message 8 of 8

>Some time ago we had a lengthy discussion about the origins of the
>coax connector names such as BNC, TNC, etc. I have just come across an
>article in QST, a Ham magazine that I think is the real McCoy. I would
>like to share it with you. 

>Named the type C connector, it was the first designed as a true 50-ohm

I have used the type C connector.  They are rather hard to find (maybe
I haven't looked hard enough), but they are great for making portable
and mobile 2-meter antennas!  I had a friend in Salt Lake City who
used one on his car (5/8 wave 2m antenna), and it lasted quite a long
time!  For those of you who are not familiar with the type C
connector, it's like a BNC, except larger.  Bayonet mount, the whole
shot.  Much nicer than type N.

           Ed Carp	N7EKG/5 (28.3-28.5)	erc@puzzle!khijol
           Austin,  Tx; (home) (512) 445-2044
           Snail Mail:  1800 E. Stassney  #1205
                        Austin, Tx  78744

michael@uunet.uu.net> (12/07/89)

In article <1852@accuvax.nwu.edu> rfarris@serene.UU.NET (Rick Farris) writes:

In article <1787@accuvax.nwu.edu> GREEN@wharton.upenn.edu (Scott D. Green) 
writes:

> ... that the BNC conncector is so named because it is a Berry Nice
> Connector.

I didn't see the original article to this but from what I remember it went:

	BNC : Bayonet Navy Connector.

	TNC : Threaded Navy Connector.

	N   : Navy connector (Presumably)

Perhaps the navy needed a better connector than the then standard UHF
(sic) connector, considering the harsh corrosion environment.

	JONES : Jumble Of Numerious Efforts at Standardization (perhaps
								Apocryphal)
	(and we all know why an "F" connector was so named)

email to 
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