atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Origination of the Thomas and Betts LRC connector

Hey all,

This may be a bit off topic for this forum but I'm sure there are tons of guys on here that are probably old enough to know this hitory or reasoning behind these connectors.

I've installed many compression connectors in my time but always revert back to the trustworthy Snap-N-Seal connectors when I'm choosing. For as long as I know and have seen (I've used/seen some of the first ones installed. When they were still just brass!), the Snap-N-Seal connectors have been marked LRC. At first I thought it may be the original brand (That got bought out by who and who, then by T&B, then by Belden) but I can't find anything about said brand that doesn't incorporate Thomas and Betts. More confusing, I've seen other connectors that also bear the LRC distinction and that further makes me wonder about them. I also know some people refer to the compression connectors as Augat connecters which adds yet another terms to remember! I've really never found a definitive answer to their term or modeling of LRC and am finally really curious.

These are the coax compression connectors with colored plastic boots (Blue RG6, Orance RG59, Purple RG6QS, etc...) if you need a memory jog (Also have RCA and BNC compression conn.). Model numbers like: SNS1P6, *LRC*SNS1P6 and such.

Thoughts or guesses are appreciated. And if this is TOTALLY inappropriate for posting here, let me know and my apologies.

I believe Augat is who originally made them.
Augat was bought by TNB, and Belden recently bought the Snap-N-Seal line from TNB.

I agree that SNS connectors are the best. They are all that I use. I do like the red ones best as they tend to fit a wider variety of RG6 cable types.

As for their origin, I can say with certainty that T&B didn't make them originally. I think that we already knew that. They have pretty much bought up anything that Tyco Electronics didn't. I really don't know the true origin of LRC, but it sounds as if you and Jeff have the history nailed.

You just make the rounds everywhere!

Didnt know that about Augat. Went to a shop this summer that misspelled them 'Auget' and thought about correcting it but let it be. Interesting tid-bit.


I'm actually surprised Corning hasn't sold off Gilbert yet. PPC just went to Belden, Tack that on with T&B and ICM Corp and their approaching a monopoly on quality compression connectors. We still have some chinese guys (Holland for one) but, aside from HEC, most are mediocre and personally I don't like Holland ones either but, they are at-least 'decent'.

Thanks for the responses guys. Any thoughts on LRC from the other 'experienced' guys though?

Here is a bit more info!
https://maiteymario.net/mario/work/PSG/catalog/LRC.htm

Looks like the original company was LRC Electronics, which was purchased by Augat.

Thanks Jeff. Looks like quite a bit of snooping to find that! I've looked several times and never run across that.


After 30 years and a couple buy-outs I'm surprised the name has stayed with them. Must be a small niche of people that even remember LRC company let alone any of their produts.

Used to use their hardline fittings all the time back in the 80's as an alternate to Gilbert.


Well, compression fittings haven't been around very long in my lifetime. They became popular maybe 10 years ago as cable companies got away from hex crimp fittings and the weather boots/silicone grease needed to weather proof them. Some will say compression fittings perform better as far as leakage and ingress with bandwidths approaching 1 Ghz. but I'm not convinced. I really think they were adopted for their weather resistant qualities.

I use PPC because that's what the cable company here uses. If they see something else they cut them off.

-Hal

Likewise to Hal, I started using SNS, went to Digicon, and then to PPC because that's what Time Worthless uses here. I didn't have a problem with any of them and they were a darn sight better than any alternative connectors, especially in the hospitality industry where the "guests" can destroy things in a heartbeat.

Sad, but true, I guess I've been using compression tools for about 10 years. I loved them because they are much quicker than crimp and you don't ever seem to get a bad connection. I think I own about 5 tools and the coax inserts. My first 70-room property still has about 95% of the original SNS's intact from 2004.

Carl

Thanks guys. I actually started with PPC compressions because that's what DirecTV uses and to keep it looking like they installed the stuff, I bought the same connectors. (Cheaper than T&Bs which is a plus) Still keep T&B's on hand for when I'm running anything or making a patch. @EV607797, I'm also a big fan of the newer red ones that fit RG59-RG6Q. I always had a bag of RG59 (orange) connectors but rarely use them. If I'm working with RG59, it's probably going to get RCA ends anyway. OT, anyone know of a good place to get the Thomas and Betts RCA compression connectors? I haven't looked at suppliers recently but for just a few, all I can find is $5/piece,

First decent coax connectors I used were the Gilbert crimp connectors also DirecTV standard issue (when the receivers still said 'DSS') but, when D* went to the PPC compression (early 2000's?), I also made the switch and would never go back! (Still use crimp BNC's though, unfortunately.

I use TNB and PPC as well. The red SNS are quite nice.
I am also in Time Worthless territory, and they use PPC.
For BNC I also crimp...can't really get around that for CCTV (though sometimes I use baluns and Cat5e)