The TNC connector (acronym of "Threaded Neill–Concelman") is a threaded version of the

BNC connector The BNC connector (initialism of "Bayonet Neill–Concelman") is a miniature quick connect/disconnect radio frequency connector used for coaxial cable. It is designed to maintain the same characteristic impedance of the cable, with 50 ohm and ...

Description

The interface specifications for the TNC and many other connectors are referenced in MIL-STD-348. The connector has a 50 Ω impedance and operates best in the 0–11

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 ...

frequency spectrum. It has better performance than the BNC connector at

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...

frequencies. Invented in the late 1950s and named after

Paul Neill Paul Neill (September 6, 1882 – October 1968) was an American electrical engineer at Bell Labs in the 1940s. He is credited with helping to invent the BNC, TNC, and Type N connectors used for microwave and RF communications. He joined ...

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

and

Carl Concelman Carl Concelman (December 23, 1912 – August 1975) was the electrical engineer who, while working for Amphenol, invented the C connector and teamed up with Paul Neill of Bell Labs to invent the BNC connector and TNC connector. See also *RF ...

Amphenol Amphenol Corporation is a major producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable and interconnect systems such as coaxial cables. Amphenol is a portmanteau from the corporation's original name, American Phenolic Corp. History Amphenol ...

, the TNC connector has been employed in a wide range of radio and wired applications. The TNC connector features a 7/16"-28 thread, not to be confused with a

7/16 DIN connector The 7-16 DIN connector or 7/16 (seven and sixteen millimeter DIN) is a 50 Ω threaded RF connector used to join coaxial cables. It was designed to reduce passive intermodulation from multiple transmitters. It is among the most widely used high p ...

, which is the diameter of the mating surfaces as specified in millimeters.

Variations

Reverse-polarity TNC

Reverse-polarity TNC (RP-TNC, sometimes RTNC) is a variation of the TNC specification which reverses the polarity of the interface. This is usually achieved by incorporating the female contacts normally found in jacks into the plug, and the male contacts normally found in plugs into the jack. Because they were not readily available, RP-TNC connectors have been widely used by

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

equipment manufacturers to comply with specific local regulations, such as those from the

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...

, which are designed to prevent consumers from connecting antennas which exhibit gain and therefore breach compliance. The FCC considered that the RP-TNC was acceptable in preventing consumers changing the antenna; but by 2000 it regarded them as readily available, though delaying its ruling indefinitely. As of 2013, leading manufacturers are still using RP-TNC connectors on their Wi-Fi equipment. Plug on the female connector and receptacle on the male when dealing with RP-TNC.

TNCA

The TNCA connector is a variant of the TNC connector specified in MIL-STD-348 designed to provide an air gap in the dielectric region between the male and female connectors. The socket version of the TNCA connector is nearly identically to the standard TNC connector, while the pin contact version provides the air cavity differentiating it from a standard TNC connector, as such TNCA connectors are mechanically compatible and matable with standard conjugate TNC connectors.

75 ohm TNC

Most TNC connectors are 50-ohm type even when used with

coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ) is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric ( insulating material); many coaxial cables also have a p ...

of other impedances, but a 75-ohm series is also available, providing a good SWR to about 1 GHz. These can be recognized by a reduced amount of

dielectric In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric medium) is an electrical insulator that can be polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the mate ...

in the mating ends. They are intermatable with standard types.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tnc Connector TNC de:Koaxiale Steckverbinder für Hochfrequenzanwendungen#TNC-Steckverbinder ru:Коаксиальный радиочастотный разъём#TNC-коннектор