NEUTRIK EASYPATCH B-GAUGE JACKFIELDS
This design is intended to reduce the total installed cost of a 2 row jackfield, without compromising reliability. The NPP-TB may be installed using only a screwdriver and a wire stripping device, aiding installation on site in studios, education or any project where a skilled wireman is not necessarily available.
They use Neutrik NJ6TB-V jack sockets, mounted on two high quality plated through-hole PCBs, which also provide normalling points and wiring terminals. These plug together with pairs of gold plated D-connectors to form an assembly which is mounted in a welded “Zintec” sheet frame, with inbuilt card guides, and moulded front dress-plate. Strain relief facilities are built into the frame (an accessory rear extension bar for extra large cable bundles bolts on as required).
They provide facilities for common connection of cable screens by bridging adjacent PCB pads with solder, with the facility to connect this common ground to chassis. Alternatively the earths may be commoned in groups, by cutting the circuit tracks between the groups.
Type NPP-TB are fitted with terminal blocks, of a type (Wago) not common in audio work, but very often found in use in the control engineering industry. Each jack is provided with a separate connection for shield, tip and ring. The cable is prepared simply by stripping the insulation (where present) back by 6mm. The terminal is “opened” by depressing the spring actuating lever by hand or with a convenient sharp point, and the conductor is inserted in the aperture. Releasing the lever allows the spring to “bite” into the wire (solid or stranded, up to 0.5mm²), providing a strong retention force and good electrical continuity due to the high point pressure of the sharp edge of the spring. Note that since the screen connections are separated, it is perfectly feasible to wire the jackfield with cables such as Canford FST without sleeving the drain wire. The upper PCB is fitted with headers for normalling purposes. Supplied with the jumpers fitted to configure the entire jackfield as fully normalled, the assembly may also be reconfigured to be half normalled (top or bottom row); alternatively vertical pairs of jacks may be parallel connected.
Type NPP-TB-HN are fitted with solder pad connections, and are supplied half-normalled as standard (this version does not have jumpers for programming).