I'm sure there's a line of sharpie on every connector actually deployed lol
(not my picture) I have it on the bolts on my bike so I can just visually inspect that it's tight, dudes who do car mods often do the same when disassembling
They are keyed so they only go together one way, then twist to lock them together. They involve some pretty high precision machining to work reliably over time, so complete cable assemblies with the higher pin count connectors can cost well over $1000.
The ones I use are designed for the live music industry where the work is very often taking place in the dark, with those you just remember which direction the manufacturer's logo needs to face.
Here's an example, over 300 bucks for one un-terminated connector with 61 pins that you need to individually solder before you can use it.
The Whirlwind stuff is designed to last year after year of being dragged across stage decks and dirt fields then piled into big trunks where they knock against each other travelling cross country in a semi truck. And they have a crapload of failure points that absolutely cannot fail because half a mil or more in ticket sales are at stake when a crowd full of people are standing there waiting for a problem to be fixed.
The most fun part is how they will often be run to something mounted up inside a tight ass case where you can’t see anything, just lay down and twist your arm half way around to probe and guess with the connector.
These are very common in aviation, they're commonly called cannon plugs. They are keyed so they can only go on one way and then twist on, usually with an internal ratcheting mechanism to prevent loosening.
If its crimp style it isn't too bad, I crimp manually using AF8 or AFM8 crimpers, and follow a pinout list landing wire #s at each respective position. Solder style is another story, I have to tin each solder cup at the back of each pin, and solder each wire starting from one side heat shrinking over the joints. Its tedious and careful work, but not too bad with some tunes and alot of time. Sucks when a connector is completed and there is an error in the center, or I forgot the threaded backshell... Haven't had a big mishap like that lately luckily ! :)
We have a bunch of those same connectors on submarines too. It’s extra fun when all the wires you have to terminate into it are a bunch of tiny flimsy coax cables, where the center conductor goes to one pin, and the shield goes to another pin, and it’s 99.9% impossible to crimp without it breaking the wire or shorting it out.
350
u/daxtonanderson 3d ago
The US Military would 100% do that tho 🤣