MCX (micro coaxial connector) are

coaxial In geometry, coaxial means that several three-dimensional linear or planar forms share a common axis. The two-dimensional analog is ''concentric''. Common examples: A coaxial cable is a three-dimensional linear structure. It has a wire conduc ...

RF connector A coaxial RF connector (radio frequency connector) is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range. RF connectors are typically used with coaxial cables and are designed to maintain the shielding t ...

s developed in the 1980s. They have the same inner contact and insulator dimensions as the

SMB connector SMB (''SubMiniature version B'') connectors are coaxial RF connectors developed in the 1960s. SMB connectors are smaller than SMA connectors. They feature a snap-on coupling and are available in either 50 Ω or 75 Ω impedance. They of ...

but are 30% smaller. MCX is standardized in European CECC 22220.

Connector design

MCX connectors use a snap-on interface and usually have a 50 Ω impedance (some are 75 Ω) . They offer broadband capability from DC to 6

GHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

. The contact surfaces are gold-plated. The outer diameter of the plug is approx 3.6 mm or 0.140 inch.

Use

MCX and the smaller

MMCX connector Micro-miniature coaxial (MMCX) connectors are coaxial RF connectors similar to MCX but smaller. They conform to the European CECC 22000 specification. MMCX connectors are rated to 500 mating cycles. The connectors have a lock-snap mechanism allow ...

are frequently used to connect external antennas to

GPS receivers A satellite navigation device (satnav device) is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice. Depending on the s ...

. They are also common on USB

DVB-T DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Febr ...

tuners for computers and laptops, to connect an external antenna to the tuner. The MCX connector is also being used on at least some of the new generation of mostly inexpensive software-defined

oscilloscopes An oscilloscope (informally a scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying electrical voltages as a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time. The main purposes are to display repetiti ...

and/or

signal generators A signal generator is one of a class of electronic devices that generates electrical signals with set properties of amplitude, frequency, and wave shape. These generated signals are used as a stimulus for electronic measurements, typically used i ...

such as the DS212. This is a low frequency application, at most a few MHz bandwidth, so the electrical performance characteristics are relatively unimportant, however the small size would appear to be an important feature.

References

RF connectors {{electrical-connector-stub

Connector design

Use

See also

References