31 Dec
2001
31 Dec
'01
10:47 a.m.
EEEEK!!! It's not a "DB-9"!!!
Your point is well taken, Pete, and, in the interest of keeping a lot of
bandwidth from going down the toilet on yet another discussion of connector
nomenclature, it's well to keep in mind that the vendors of surplus hardware
seldom know much about what they sell.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pete Turnbull" <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2001 10:49 PM
Subject: Re: NEXT Color Printer find
On Dec 30, 16:03, Louis Schulman wrote:
to
With all due respect, I disagree. The term
"Centronics", whatever its
original meaning, refers to a type of
connector. Looking at the Jameco catalog, for
example, the catalog
pictures 14, 24, 36 and 50 contact
male and female connectors, all referred to as
"Centronics". I have
never heard the term "blue ribbon" used
to describe these connectors.
My understanding is that Centronics was the first to use this type of
connector on
its parallel printers, so
when it became the standard type connector the
name stuck.
No, Tony is correct. Just because a name is commonly (mis)used in a
particular way, doesn't mean it's correct, especially in catalogues. This
discussion has come up before in relation to "DB9" connectors etc. A
Centronics connector is a specific size, 36pins. The other sizes (14, 20,
24, 50, etc) are NOT Centronics connectors. The 24-way is sometimes
referred to as an IEEE-488 connector. Does that make all the other sizes
IEEE-488 connectors too?
The common misuse is fairly recent, too. 50-pin conectors in that shape
have been around for a long time, as SCSI connectors, as telco connectors,
and for datacomms. Only in the last 5-8 years have I seen them referred as Centronics.
BTW, this type of connector, regardless of the
number of pins, when made
for ribbon cables, is referred to
by Jameco as "IDC Centronics
Connector".
So they're misusing the term, that's all. If they'd said
"Centronics-style" that would be different.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York