[ARC5] Banana Plug Receptacles

[Robert Eleazer]

Rather than commit sacrilege and solder to Command Set banana jack plugs such as the problem recently described by Robert Downs, there is a simple and expensive alternative if you need to interface with such male plugs and don't have the proper receptacle.

Go down to a well equipped hardware store or model airplane hobby shop and find a piece of brass tubing that will match the banana plug.  Such tubing is sold in a wide range of small diameters and in lengths of about a foot.  If you can't find tubing the exact size you need then take the next larger size and squeeze it into a slightly oblong cross section; it will work fine then.  Whack off the length of tubing you need to make a connector and you are in business.

I made some interfaces of that type to fit some surplus military PSM-45 multimeters I have.  The male test plug interfaces in those meters are buried down deep inside and standard test leads will not work unless you use the brass tubing to bring an interface out to the surface.

By the way, if you have a PSM-45 that will only work in ohms mode, e-mail me and I will tell you how to do a simple fix. 

Wayne, WB5WSV