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

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Jul 25, 2010, 2:09:03 PM7/25/10
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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.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
To help restaurants, as part of the "stimulus package", everyone must order
dessert. As part of the socialized health plan, you are forbidden to eat it. :-)

Ken

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Jul 25, 2010, 2:23:21 PM7/25/10
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On Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:09:03 +0000 (UTC), "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
<g...@mendelson.com> wrote:

> 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


Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Jul 25, 2010, 2:49:03 PM7/25/10
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Ken wrote:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_aerial_plug

Thanks, but what do you call it?

Aerial plug? Antenna plug? Belling Lee Plug?

Richard

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Jul 25, 2010, 3:30:19 PM7/25/10
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On 2010-07-25 19:49:03 +0100, "Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <g...@mendelson.com> said:

> Ken wrote:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_aerial_plug
>
> Thanks, but what do you call it?
>
> Aerial plug? Antenna plug? Belling Lee Plug?
>
> Geoff.

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:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=0531683

(RS

Components used to be called RadioSpares, back when I were a lad....)

Hope this helps,
Richard

N_Cook

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Jul 25, 2010, 4:02:08 PM7/25/10
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Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrni4ov9...@cable.mendelson.com...


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


Adrian Tuddenham

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Jul 25, 2010, 4:24:20 PM7/25/10
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Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote:

> 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.


--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Jul 25, 2010, 5:19:04 PM7/25/10
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Richard wrote:

> 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.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Jul 25, 2010, 5:34:05 PM7/25/10
to
Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote:
>
>> 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.

Ok, thanks.

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

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Jul 25, 2010, 5:34:04 PM7/25/10
to
N_Cook wrote:
> 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.

Dave Plowman (News)

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Jul 25, 2010, 6:15:23 PM7/25/10
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In article <slrni4ov9...@cable.mendelson.com>,

Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote:
> hat 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.

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.

--
*Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder *

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Arfa Daily

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Jul 25, 2010, 8:30:49 PM7/25/10
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"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrni4pag...@cable.mendelson.com...


> Richard wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
> --
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
>

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

Adrian C

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Jul 25, 2010, 8:42:25 PM7/25/10
to
On 25/07/2010 22:19, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
> Richard wrote:
>
>> 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.

IEC 169-2

--
Adrian C

N_Cook

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Jul 26, 2010, 3:22:09 AM7/26/10
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Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrni4pb5...@cable.mendelson.com...


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_Cook

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Jul 26, 2010, 3:46:12 AM7/26/10
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Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrni4pb5...@cable.mendelson.com...


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


Arfa Daily

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Jul 26, 2010, 4:09:42 AM7/26/10
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"N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:i2jeec$6i6$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

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_Cook

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Jul 26, 2010, 4:31:26 AM7/26/10
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Arfa Daily <arfa....@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:8pb3o.205411$9c1.129137@hurricane...

>
>
> "N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:i2jeec$6i6$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> > Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
> > news:slrni4pb5...@cable.mendelson.com...

> 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


Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Jul 26, 2010, 5:39:04 AM7/26/10
to
N_Cook wrote:

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


Not defunct:

http://www.belling-lee.com/

Maybe not the same company, but not defunct.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

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Jul 26, 2010, 5:44:03 AM7/26/10
to
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

> Not defunct:
>
> http://www.belling-lee.com/
>
> Maybe not the same company, but not defunct.

After I posted this I looked. If you follow their products down to coaxial
connectors you get to http://www.blpcomp.com/products/viewprod.php?id=218.

That's the standard Belling-Lee connector, although you have to download
the PDF file to see it.

Mike Tomlinson

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Jul 26, 2010, 8:01:29 PM7/26/10
to
In article <slrni4ov9...@cable.mendelson.com>, Geoffrey S.
Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> writes

>What do you call a Belling-Lee connector?

usually "coax plug" or "TV aerial plug".

--
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")


Mike Tomlinson

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Jul 26, 2010, 8:04:01 PM7/26/10
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In article <513c911...@davenoise.co.uk>, Dave Plowman (News)
<da...@davenoise.co.uk> writes

>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.

Bob Villa

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Jul 27, 2010, 5:23:01 AM7/27/10
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On Jul 26, 4:39 am, "Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <g...@mendelson.com>
wrote:

He meant, I believe, that "Hoover" was defunct. Has anyone tried a
Google image search for "Belling-Lee connector"?

Ian Jackson

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Jul 27, 2010, 5:36:55 PM7/27/10
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In message <1jm7f5y.11544j0xo7lzgN%adr...@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid>,
Adrian Tuddenham <adr...@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> writes

>Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
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.
--
Ian

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