From ???@0x000009E2 Thu May 28 15:17:30 1998
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From: FEDavis@worldnet.att.net (Fred E. Davis)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: What does the abbreviation SMA stand for ?
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 18:04:05 GMT
Organization: Inspection Technologies, Inc
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On Thu, 28 May 1998 10:03:57 -0700, David Sherman <davids@virtual-cafe.com>
wrote:

>I used to think BNC came from "Berkely Nucleonics Co." who used them as
>early as anybody, but I've been told it's just some random code letters.

A quick search reveals:

from  http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/Acronyms

"BNC  Bayonet Neill Concelman (connector) [electronics] (see also TNC)"

"TNC  Threaded Neill Concelman (connector) [electronics] (see also BNC)"


from http://www.insa-lyon.fr/People/AEDI/glickind/acronyms/main.htm#B

"BNC   Bayonet Neill-Concelman"


from http://www.mark-itt.ru/Collection/Other/babel96b.html#B

"BNC   Bayonet Neill-Concelman"


from http://www.io.com/docs/vera.html

"BNC Bayonet Neill Concelman [connector] "


but, just to keep it interesting, from http://www.rane.com/par-b.htm

"BNC (bayonet Neill Concelman, or baby N-connector, or bayonet connector) A
bayonet-locking connector for slim coaxial cables. What "BNC" truly stands
for is still debated: 1) There is an "N-connector," similar to, but larger
than the BNC-type, used for fat coaxial cables; 2) Neill Concelman is
credited with inventing this connector; 3) And, of course, it is a
bayonet-style - so, take your pick. [An interested peruser of this
reference wrote me and said that the "N" stands for Navy, who developed the
connector for war-time communication during WWII."

>Actually, names for coax connectors are buried in post-WWII obscurity.
>Other common coax connectors are type "N" ..., and UHF ... . Less common
>series are TNC, MHV, SHV, C, HN, SC, and F. There is also a "mini-UHF"
>and a SSMA ... .

Other examples of the alphabet soup for connector styles include: BN, LC,
LT, PULSE, QDL, QDS, QL, QM, SKL, SM, TPS, TWIN.