It should be remembered that tip-sleeve connector types are not designed for carrying power during insertion, the tip and the sleeve can be momentarily shorted together, which may damage the power supply.
#SERIAL CONNECTOR TYPES SERIAL#
The common availability of these connectors and cables makes them a good candidate for general purpose connectivity applications-for instance, long before USB, Texas Instruments graphing calculators used a 2.5mm TRS connector for a serial programming connector. Some cell phones will provide a 2.5mm tip-ring-ring-sleeve (TRRS) jack for connecting to headphones that also include a microphone for hands-free communications. 1/8" tip-ring-sleeve (TRS) is very common as the connector for headphones or audio output signals on MP3 players or computers.
#SERIAL CONNECTOR TYPES PROFESSIONAL#
¼" size connectors find a lot of use in the professional audio and music community- most electric guitars and amplifiers have 1/4" tip-sleeve (TS) jacks on them. These connectors actually come in three common sizes: 1/4" (6.35mm), 1/8" (3.5mm), and 2.5mm. You'll probably immediately recognize the 1/8" version of this connector as a the plug on the end of a pair of headphones. While these can't truly be considered to be of the same family, as the various USB connectors are, we'll consider both of them to be in the same vein.
All USB connectors are designed with this in mind.
USB connectors come in two flavors: host and peripheral.
We'll discuss this more in the examples section for each individual connector. The term "mount" can refer to several things: how the connector is mounted in use (panel mount, free-hanging, board mount), what the angle of the connector is relative to its attachment (straight or right-angle), or how it is mechanically attached (solder tab, surface mount, through hole). Mount - This one has the potential for being confusing. It's important that you select a connector with a suitable life for the application. A USB connector may have a lifetime in the thousands or tens of thousands of cycles, while a board-to-board connector designed for use inside of consumer electronics may be limited to tens of cycles. Datasheets usually present that information in terms of mating cycles, and it varies widely from one technology to another. Mating cycles - Connectors have a finite life, and connecting and disconnecting them is what wears them out. The pitch of the pins on the headers on a standard Arduino is.