A binding post is a connector commonly used on electronic test equipment to terminate (attach) a single wire or test lead. They are also found on loudspeakers and audio amplifiers as well as other electrical equipment.
A binding post contains a central threaded metal rod and a cap that screws down on that rod. The cap is commonly insulated with plastic and color-coded: red commonly means an active or positive terminal; black indicates an inactive (reference or return) or negative terminal; and green indicates an earth (ground) terminal.
Commonly designed in a style called five-way or universal, such binding posts allow the connection of several different types of connections:
- Banana plugs, inserted into the open end of the binding post
- Pin connectors, inserted into a hole drilled through the metal post and clamped by the screw-down portion of the binding post.
- Bare wire inserted through the same hole and clamped, or
- Wrapped around the metal post and clamped.
- A lug terminal inserted around the metal post and clamped.
The binding post was a commercial invention of the General Radio Corporation.
Read more about Binding Post: Safety, Standard Spacing
Famous quotes containing the words binding and/or post:
“With a binding like you’ve got, people are gonna want to know what’s in the book.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)
“My business is stanching blood and feeding fainting men; my post the open field between the bullet and the hospital. I sometimes discuss the application of a compress or a wisp of hay under a broken limb, but not the bearing and merits of a political movement. I make gruel—not speeches; I write letters home for wounded soldiers, not political addresses.”
—Clara Barton (1821–1912)