Everything you should know about the SMA connector

The SMA connector is an extraordinary workhorse; it provides a wide range of applications from which it can offer the best solution. Due to its versatility, the SMA connector is utilized in every single industry, from telecommunications to medical. 

What is an SMA connector? 

SMA is an acronym for sub-miniature type A. Subminiature connectors are tiny and are extremely helpful in high-frequency applications. They can provide a stable and constant broadband connection from the kilohertz range on up to 18 gigahertz. This type of connector’s popular dependability is accomplished from a constant impedance of 50 ohms and because of its low reflection. 

Electrical impedance is just a measure employed to find the degree of opposition that gets applied to a current inside a circuit when the voltage gets applied to it. 50 ohms is considered a great middle-ground in the realm of standard characteristic impedance.

SMA connectors can achieve low reflection and excellent attenuation as a result of their shape, which allows keeping a stable connection contact. The SMA is coaxial, with the typical screw-type coupler; but, these should not be confused with standard coaxial hooking up a home’s cable or internet. To hook up an SMA to a coax demands a special adapter.

Standard SMA Connector specifications Snapshot:

• Female SMA connectors employ a thread for coupling that is 4.32 millimeters long.
• Uses a one-quarter inch and thirty-six thread type coupler.
• Male SMA connectors employ a five-sixteenths inch hex nut. This enables the application of torque by a standard one-half-inch wrench. The applied torque can be utilized to tighten or loosen the connector quickly.
• Uses a unique silicon rubber O-ring. This helps to give separation between the body and the coupler, which produces a barrier to outside environmental factors like dust.
• Even within a specific connector like the SMA, there are numerous different types.

SMA connectors are:

• Small compared to other connectors that preceded them, such as BNC and N types.
• Appropriate for use at frequencies up to 18 Gigahertz.
• Extensively utilized in industry for those frequencies.
• Considerably robust against vibration, repeated insertions, and other abuse (when a proper torque wrench is used)
• Available at affordable prices 
• Available on a broad range of coaxial cable types.

How do you test SMA RF connectors?

It is unusual to go from design straight to volume production without several testing periods and prototyping in between. Prototyping permits the design teams to test many different configurations of the same SMA RF connectors in complex real-world situations. Frequently, these are even more challenging than the real circumstances the system will face every day. This is called the advanced life testing lab, which subjects the components to all ways of freezing temps, scorching heat, salt, and other external factors that have to be mitigated against during the design phase.

Looking for the best quality and performance and as close to perfection as humanly possible, highly accurate, automated Cirrus testers are also employed. However, sometimes it is needed to design a unique and entirely custom testing unit to guarantee the component’s functionality, structural integrity, and above all, safety.

If you would like to receive a quote for any of custom cables or connectors, please do not hesitate to contact us by sending an email to sa***@re*************.com or calling in the USA this phone number (682-325-1944).