page_title: N connector
section_title: Impedance options
hierarchical_section_title: N connector / Impedance options
caption_attribution_description: N Connectors. This shows the similarity between 50 Ω and 75 Ω N connectors. The red ones are 75 Ω (only coloured because part of a kit of Inter Series Adaptors). It can be seen that the inner pin of the 50 Ω plug is bigger than the 75 Ω plug which causes damage if incorrectly used.
context_page_description: The N connector is a threaded, weatherproof, medium-size RF connector used to join coaxial cables. It was one of the first connectors capable of carrying microwave-frequency signals, and was invented in the 1940s by Paul Neill of Bell Labs, after whom the connector is named.
context_section_description: The N connector follows MIL-STD-348, a standard defined by the US military, and comes in 50 and 75 ohm versions. The 50 ohm version is widely used in the infrastructure of land mobile, wireless data, paging and cellular systems. The 75 ohm version is primarily used in the infrastructure of cable television systems. Connecting these two different types of connectors to each other can lead to damage, and/or intermittent operation due to the difference in diameter of the center pin.
  Unfortunately, many type N connectors are not labeled, and it can be difficult to prevent this situation in a mixed impedance environment. The situation is further complicated by some makers of 75 ohm sockets designing them with enough spring yield to accept the larger 50 ohm pin without irreversible damage, while others do not. In general a 50 ohm socket is not damaged by a 75 ohm pin, but the loose fit means the contact quality is not guaranteed; this can cause poor or intermittent operation, with the thin 75 ohm male pin only barely mating with the larger 50 ohm socket in the female.
  The 50 ohm type N connector is favored in microwave applications and microwave instrumentation, such as spectrum analyzers. 50 Ω N connectors are also commonly used on amateur radio devices (e.g., transceivers) operating in UHF bands.
caption: Picture showing the similarity between 50 Ω (bottom) and 75 Ω (top) Type N connectors
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