SMB and its threaded brother SMC was designed as a connector for internal signal routing , if I remember correctly the spec was 4GHz for the 50ohm and 2GHz for the 75ohm variant , in recent years it has been replaced by smaller board to board connectors like MCX or MMCX .
SMB connectors commonly were used with flexible cables (RG178/188/316) but also with hardlines (UT085) and conformable hardlines , agilent for example used SMC connectors on the hardline connecting the Calibrator to the frontpanel N connector in Powermeters just to name one example !
Agilent mostly used them for low power RF and IF connections in testing equipment as bruce pointed out already !
The downsides of the SMB is that they tend to leak especially after being mated for a extended period of time as the leafsprings are weakening , also they can get damaged if during the mating process if you are not careful !
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-----Original Message-----
From: HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment@groups.io <HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment@groups.io> On Behalf Of Bruce via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2022 3:15 PM
To: HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment@groups.io
Subject: Re: [HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] Scoping the Power Rails [8566B]
In the 8566, SMBs rarely see signals above 1GHz - it uses hard line for higher frequencies.
My source of SMBs has generally been from salvaged equipment (Spectrum analyzers in particular) and I've had no problems.
As I said, I can send you some if it turns out to be less expensive than purchasing off e-bay. Also - a short SMB(F)-SMB(F) cable coupled to an SMB(M) to SMB(M) provides a very flexible setup - also an SMA to SMB is a good thing.
I generally use SMA-SMA cables and attach appropriate adapters as needed.
Quoting Jinxie <paul666@...>:
@Peter Gottlieb
Are those cheap smb-sma patch leads you get from Ebay any good,
though? I mean they look alright, but do they preserve the
characteristic impedance of the line right up to 22GHz? Or even up to
say 7Ghz? It's impossible to tell from the adverts and descriptions
usually. At least with genuine HP leads, yes you pay a fortune for
them but you know they're going to be good.
