Antex Electronics SX-5e - Manual (Page 18)

13
SX-5e CONNECTOR DESCRIPTION
The SX-5e is self-explanatory. The left and right Line Out con-
nections are RCA jacks on the card bracket, which are labeled.
There are no other connectors on the card.
BALANCED AND UNBALANCED SIGNALS
The SX-5e and the SX-34 have unbalanced signals only. The
SX-6 and SX-36 have balanced signals, which can be wired to be
connected to unbalanced equipment if desired. (Note that in this
discussion, “balanced” has nothing to do with balancing the loud-
ness between the left and right channels of a stereo signal.) Bal-
anced signals use 3 wires for one signal, which is usually trans-
mitted on a shielded twisted pair cable. One of the wires of the
twisted pair carries the signal and the other wire of the twisted pair
carries the inverse of the signal (the opposite polarity). These are
sometimes referred to as “hot” and “cold”. The shield is grounded
at both ends. The advantage of balanced signals is that the re-
ceiver is receiving only the voltage difference between the 2 wires
of the twisted pair. Hum and noise picked up by the cable will be
picked up equally by both wires of the twisted pair and rejected by
the balanced receiver. Therefore, balanced connections have
better signal to noise ratios than unbalanced and are essential for
long cable runs. (As a rule of thumb, unbalanced connections are
OK for connections less than 6 feet.) Unbalanced signals use a
coaxial cable, with a center conductor and a shield. The shield is
grounded at both ends. Unbalanced is sometimes known as “sin-
gle ended”.
The balanced connections of an SX-6 or SX-36 may be con-
nected to unbalanced equipment if desired. For the inputs of the
SX-36, the minus input should be connected to ground and the
signal will be connected to the plus input. When connecting the
outputs of the Antex card to unbalanced equipment, there are two
possible ways to make the connection. The center conductor of
the unbalanced coax cable is connected to the plus output and the
shield is connected to ground. The minus output may then either
be grounded or left floating. Balanced output drivers used on the