I’m a baseball fan. I particularly appreciate defense: pitchers’ duals, sacrifice bunts, diving catches (in both the infield and outfield), and robbing a hitter of a home run. I love The Rookie and Moneyball.
We’re coming up on the MLB All-Star Game, which I don’t appreciate as much as regular or post-season games, but it’s still baseball. Last week I saw the replay again from 1970 when Pete Rose took out Ray Fosse in the bottom of the the12th inning to win the game. I appreciate the hustle and desire to win.
What does this have to do with connectors? Here’s the tenuous answer: last week I had a conversation with a new Samtec associate. He asked which Samtec connector products are most popular, and which new products are getting the most attention from customers. I guess you could call these our Connector All-Star team, and our Rookie All-Star Team.
Since I’m the commissioner of this blog, I get to name the teams.
Connector All-Star Team (Veterans)
High-Speed Cable Assemblies: This isn’t a specific product series, but it’s our ability to design and manufacture an almost limitless line of high-speed cable assemblies, with a wide (and I mean WIDE) variety of connectors, high-speed cables, and termination options.
FTSH, CLP and TSM, SSM: These are basic 1.27 and 2.54 mm pitch socket and terminal strips. They are popular because of the variety of options in the product line, including through-hole and SMT terminations, vertical and right angle designs, and a variety of plating options, among others.
ECUO: The FireFly™ optical cable system‘s industry-leading miniature footprint allows for greater density and closer proximity to the IC, which simplifies board layout and enhances signal integrity.
SEAM, SEAF: SEARAY™ is a high density, high speed, 1.27 mm grid array system. It’s popular because the open pin field gives designers tons of pcb routing and grounding flexibility.
TFM, SFM: Our popular Tiger Eye™ contact system that is ideal for rugged, high-cycle, micro pitch applications.
QTH, QSH: AKA Q Strip® products, are high-speed mezzanine connectors in stack heights from 5 mm and up (5 mm is the most popular), with an integral ground plane for high speed and/or power applications.
Rookie All-Star Team (i.e., New Products)
AcceleRate® HD and HP: The AcceleRate product family includes 0.635 mm pitch board-to-board and cable assemblies with incredible density in small form factors to achieve next gen speeds.
NovaRay® I/O, rated at 112 Gbps PAM4, uses Samtec Flyover® cable technology to route up to 3,584 Gbps PAM4 aggregate data from the IC package to the panel and beyond. Here’s a really cool live product demonstration that includes NovaRay I/O.
URSA™: URSA I/O rugged power systems feature a hyperboloid-type contact with four points of contact for a reliable connection. It is extremely dense with up to 1,450 total I/Os in a 1RU panel and EMI shielding that limits signal degradation.
Magnum RF™ is an SMPM blind mate interface, loaded into a ganged block, for high-density requirements, where space is a premium.
And finally, if you are looking for a fun, quick, easy read on baseball, check out “I’m Fascinated By Sacrifice Flies,” by Tim Kurkjian.
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