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Question for the Brits here, what do you call a Belling-Leeconnector?

  • Thread starter Geoffrey S. Mendelson
  • Start date
G

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

Jan 1, 1970
0
What do you call a Belling-Lee connector?

I know in the US they call them PAL connectors because PAL TVs sold by
grey market importers in the 1980s used them.

As a joke I have referred to the ones on US TVs as NTSC connectors. Just about
everywhere I know, they are always called "F" connectors.

Here F connectors are used for cable TV and satellite wiring. Cable boxes have
(if they are old enough to have an RF out) F connectors on them. DBS boxes
that have RF outs use the Belling-Lee connectors.

TV sets, including the ones with DBS-T inputs, VCRs (no new ones here) and
DBS-T converters all have Belling-Lee inputs and outputs.

The reason I ask is that I am using compression connectors for everything now,
and have no trouble getting compression F connectors locally, BNC and RCA
connectors (I have some old radios with RCA antenna jacks) mail order,
but can only find one mention of a Belling-Lee compression connector and that
was in a PDF catalog from New Zealand.

I spent a long time looking for them on the UK eBay site, and several UK
distributors but could only find the the kind that require you to manually
assemble them. (screw them together).

Am I wasting my time? Are there none of them available? Am I calling them
by the wrong name, which is why I can't find them?

Thanks in advance,

Geoff.
 
K

Ken

Jan 1, 1970
0
What do you call a Belling-Lee connector?

I know in the US they call them PAL connectors because PAL TVs sold by
grey market importers in the 1980s used them.

As a joke I have referred to the ones on US TVs as NTSC connectors. Just about
everywhere I know, they are always called "F" connectors.

Here F connectors are used for cable TV and satellite wiring. Cable boxes have
(if they are old enough to have an RF out) F connectors on them. DBS boxes
that have RF outs use the Belling-Lee connectors.

TV sets, including the ones with DBS-T inputs, VCRs (no new ones here) and
DBS-T converters all have Belling-Lee inputs and outputs.

The reason I ask is that I am using compression connectors for everything now,
and have no trouble getting compression F connectors locally, BNC and RCA
connectors (I have some old radios with RCA antenna jacks) mail order,
but can only find one mention of a Belling-Lee compression connector and that
was in a PDF catalog from New Zealand.

I spent a long time looking for them on the UK eBay site, and several UK
distributors but could only find the the kind that require you to manually
assemble them. (screw them together).

Am I wasting my time? Are there none of them available? Am I calling them
by the wrong name, which is why I can't find them?

Thanks in advance,

Geoff.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_aerial_plug
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Geoffrey S. Mendelson said:
What do you call a Belling-Lee connector?

I know in the US they call them PAL connectors because PAL TVs sold by
grey market importers in the 1980s used them.

As a joke I have referred to the ones on US TVs as NTSC connectors. Just about
everywhere I know, they are always called "F" connectors.

Here F connectors are used for cable TV and satellite wiring. Cable boxes have
(if they are old enough to have an RF out) F connectors on them. DBS boxes
that have RF outs use the Belling-Lee connectors.

TV sets, including the ones with DBS-T inputs, VCRs (no new ones here) and
DBS-T converters all have Belling-Lee inputs and outputs.

The reason I ask is that I am using compression connectors for everything now,
and have no trouble getting compression F connectors locally, BNC and RCA
connectors (I have some old radios with RCA antenna jacks) mail order,
but can only find one mention of a Belling-Lee compression connector and that
was in a PDF catalog from New Zealand.

I spent a long time looking for them on the UK eBay site, and several UK
distributors but could only find the the kind that require you to manually
assemble them. (screw them together).

Am I wasting my time? Are there none of them available? Am I calling them
by the wrong name, which is why I can't find them?

Thanks in advance,

Geoff.
it. :)


How about TV coax connector (in the UK that is)
http://www.dastv.co.uk/images/pht/th_s/3407_DAS0982.jpg
What do Americans call the one shown in the above pic?
and I will add to my
http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/tool_terms.htm
UK / USA Tool Terminology Translator
 
A

Adrian Tuddenham

Jan 1, 1970
0
Geoffrey S. Mendelson said:
What do you call a Belling-Lee connector?

Belling-Lee coax plug/socket.

I might be able to find the manufacturer's original part number for you
if I searched through the back-issues of Wireless World; but if it is
that difficult to find, I don't suppose anyone will recognise it.

The characteristic impedance of those connectors was 75 ohms. The last
batch I had from R.S. Components, about two years ago, had sub-standard
insulation and were mechanically unsound (they fell apart at about the
fifth time of use). Needless to say, they hadn't been made by Belling &
Lee.
 
G

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Richard said:
I have never heard of it called a Belling-Lee connector, and I started
messing about with TV in England in about 1960.....
AFAIK, it's always called a TV aerial plug - this link to RS Components
could be useful:

Belling-Lee is its name, but that's why I asked, I had no idea what
people actually called them. From what I can tell, Belling-Lee is only
used in the Wikipedia.

Thanks, Geoff.
 
G

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

Jan 1, 1970
0
N_Cook said:
How about TV coax connector (in the UK that is)

Great, thanks.
http://www.dastv.co.uk/images/pht/th_s/3407_DAS0982.jpg
What do Americans call the one shown in the above pic?
and I will add to my
http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/tool_terms.htm
UK / USA Tool Terminology Translator

99% of people in the US would not call them anything, they have not, and
will never see them.

The few people that have are usually SWL's (some Grundig radios used them),
people who bought or sold PAL TV sets and VCRs (which is how they got the name
"PAL connectors".)

RadioShack calls the adapter a "European TV adapter", but says it connects
an F connector to a PAL-type antenna jack.

Universal Radio calls them "PAL", as in PAL M (male) or PAL F. to F
female adaptor.

Geoff.
 
G

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Adrian said:
Belling-Lee coax plug/socket.

I might be able to find the manufacturer's original part number for you
if I searched through the back-issues of Wireless World; but if it is
that difficult to find, I don't suppose anyone will recognise it.

The characteristic impedance of those connectors was 75 ohms. The last
batch I had from R.S. Components, about two years ago, had sub-standard
insulation and were mechanically unsound (they fell apart at about the
fifth time of use). Needless to say, they hadn't been made by Belling &
Lee.

Ok, thanks.

I'm sure the ones I get here are not either. :-(

Geoff.
 
A

Arfa Daily

Jan 1, 1970
0
Geoffrey S. Mendelson said:
Belling-Lee is its name, but that's why I asked, I had no idea what
people actually called them. From what I can tell, Belling-Lee is only
used in the Wikipedia.

Thanks, Geoff.

I have always known them as Belling-Lee plugs going back to when I started
in the TV repair business back in 1970. "Co-ax plugs" is the general
workshop speak for them. My drawer that I keep them in here, is actually
labeled 'Belling-Lee Connectors' and contains sockets as well as plugs.

Arfa
 
A

Adrian C

Jan 1, 1970
0
Belling-Lee is its name, but that's why I asked, I had no idea what
people actually called them. From what I can tell, Belling-Lee is only
used in the Wikipedia.

IEC 169-2
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Geoffrey S. Mendelson said:
Great, thanks.


99% of people in the US would not call them anything, they have not, and
will never see them.

The few people that have are usually SWL's (some Grundig radios used them),
people who bought or sold PAL TV sets and VCRs (which is how they got the name
"PAL connectors".)

RadioShack calls the adapter a "European TV adapter", but says it connects
an F connector to a PAL-type antenna jack.

Universal Radio calls them "PAL", as in PAL M (male) or PAL F. to F
female adaptor.

Geoff.
it. :)


I'm not old enough to have called them or heard them being called Belling
Lee, only vaguely aware of the term. Even the UK "Bible", RS catalogue ,
cops out and calls them "standard plugs and sockets " and "aluminium plug"
for the ubiquitous one I URL'd pic of before , how ridiculous is that?
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Geoffrey S. Mendelson said:
Great, thanks.


99% of people in the US would not call them anything, they have not, and
will never see them.

The few people that have are usually SWL's (some Grundig radios used them),
people who bought or sold PAL TV sets and VCRs (which is how they got the name
"PAL connectors".)

RadioShack calls the adapter a "European TV adapter", but says it connects
an F connector to a PAL-type antenna jack.

Universal Radio calls them "PAL", as in PAL M (male) or PAL F. to F
female adaptor.

Geoff.
it. :)


a masterclass on them
http://www.megalithia.com/elect/bellinglee/index.html
 
A

Arfa Daily

Jan 1, 1970
0
N_Cook said:

That's pretty much how I was taught to do them by the 'old boy' that every
workshop used to have back then. Sid, ours was called ...

When not soldering the centre pin on those sorts of jobs where you just
wanted to be out of the house before the fleas bit you to death or you
caught something, we used to either bend the centre conductor, as the guy in
that tutorial says, but a double 'S' shaped bend rather than a single, or
else we used to 'crimp' the pin to the centre conductor where it emerged
from the nylon bit, using a blunt pair of sidecutters.

Arfa
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
That's pretty much how I was taught to do them by the 'old boy' that every
workshop used to have back then. Sid, ours was called ...

When not soldering the centre pin on those sorts of jobs where you just
wanted to be out of the house before the fleas bit you to death or you
caught something, we used to either bend the centre conductor, as the guy in
that tutorial says, but a double 'S' shaped bend rather than a single, or
else we used to 'crimp' the pin to the centre conductor where it emerged
from the nylon bit, using a blunt pair of sidecutters.

Arfa

I assume RS cannot use a "trade name" for generic (Hoover for vacuum cleaner
etc) even if defunct company name

Now all I need is a masterclass on fitting BNC connectors
 
M

Mike Tomlinson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Dave Plowman (News) said:
Older ones will call them a Belling-Lee, strangely enough. But they are
pretty universal in the UK for all terrestrial TV and FM radio aerials,
and have been since the outset. Way before PAL was thought of.

Also used in Spain, if that's of interest.
 
I

Ian Jackson

Jan 1, 1970
0
In message said:
Belling-Lee coax plug/socket.

I might be able to find the manufacturer's original part number for you
if I searched through the back-issues of Wireless World; but if it is
that difficult to find, I don't suppose anyone will recognise it.

The characteristic impedance of those connectors was 75 ohms. The last
batch I had from R.S. Components, about two years ago, had sub-standard
insulation and were mechanically unsound (they fell apart at about the
fifth time of use). Needless to say, they hadn't been made by Belling &
Lee.
Interestingly, Wikipedia says:
"The IEC-169-2 connector is recognised as a source of signal distortion
and has become a particular concern with digital signal reception,
specifically UHF HDTV."

I recall that my own measurements (in the 1960s) indicated that a
genuine B&L connector was actually a pretty good match at UHF TV
frequencies (well, up to 500MHz or so) - certainly not enough to give me
any concerns that the whole of the TV industry had made a bad choice of
connector.
 
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