Subject says it all - I thought that a socket was female, which headers were then stuck into. But if that is the case, what is a "female" header, if not just another name for a socket? Is a female header somehow designed better to be soldered onto a board, whereas a "socket" is better designed to be soldered to wires (i.e. for a cable)?
There are two complementary pairs (plugs / receptacles (AKA jacks)) and (male / female). "Headers" would generally be receptacles (stationary, board or console mounted) and so could consist of either male pins or female sockets.
A system such as PC/104, for example, has both male and female headers, located on the top and bottom of the board, in order to allow stacking.
-- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
The pins damage more easily, and a cable can be replaced, so put the pins on the cable.
Or is it all an effort to be prissy, or politically correct (which two are often the same thing, these days).
-- Tim Wescott Control system and signal processing consulting www.wescottdesign.com
There's considerable variation in terminology for some parts - you may have to look at the things to see what they really are, and how they are normally used.
I'd consider a male header to be a rectangular array of square posts on (usually) 0.1 inch centers, designed to be soldered to a pc board.
A female header is a thing designed to mate with a male header, but also designed to be soldered to a pc board, rather than mounted on a cable.
I'd say a socket is a female connector having any contact arrangement. It may be suitable for soldering to a pc board, or for mounting on the end of a cable.
-- Peter Bennett, VE7CEI peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca
The pins determine the gender, not the parts containing the pins.
If it sticks out, it's male, if it takes in, it's female. I remember saying something about the gender of connectors thirty years ago, and awoman near by instantly understood what I was talking about, it's just like real people.
What gets confusing is socket/plug. Generally, the fixed thing becomes the socket, the thing at the end of a cable is a plug. But then when the gender switches from "what is normal", people sometimes think it needs renaming.
So look at the common AC cord. It's a plug, because it's at the end of a cable, and fits in the wall socket (so named because it's fixed in the wall). There's a good reason for why the plug has the male connector on it, and why the socket is female. If the genders were reversed, you'd have a male connector sticking out of the wall with 120vac on it, not a safe situation.
So it is common for souces of voltage to be female, so the voltages are not exposed, and the receivers of voltage to be male, since if not plugged in the exposed male connector isn't exposing any voltage. But even then that's not consistent, since for things like audio connectors, anything mounted is female, while anyting on a cable is male.
Michael
...unless you're buying RP-TNC cables. :-(
Along with the original .062" and .093" series Molex connectors that let you install each pair of contacts however you want.
-- Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.
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