ConductRF President Dean Gammell talks with Microwave Journal at IMS 2025 about the evolution of ConductRF, MAESTRO and giving engineers more control over the RF interconnect solutions they specify. Watch the video >

What you'll learn:

At ConductRF, we have always believed that the right RF interconnect solution starts with understanding the application.

That sounds simple, but it represents an important distinction in how we approach our customers. Our objective isn't to steer an engineer toward the product we happen to want to sell. It's to understand the electrical, mechanical and environmental requirements of the application and help identify the solution that best meets those requirements.

It's about the customer, not us.

That philosophy was at the center of our conversation with Microwave Journal at IMS 2025 - and it is increasingly shaping the next chapter of ConductRF.

Giving RF Engineers More Choice

The way engineers research, evaluate and purchase RF components is changing. Customers increasingly expect to investigate solutions themselves, compare alternatives, understand performance tradeoffs and make informed decisions before they ever speak with a salesperson.

We believe RF cable assembly manufacturers need to evolve with them. That's one of the reasons ConductRF has invested in expanding our digital capabilities and creating new ways for customers to interact with our engineering and manufacturing expertise.

At IMS 2025, we introduced the next evolution of the ConductRF brand along with a new website and a new approach to online cable configuration. At the center of that effort is MAESTRO, our RF Cable Composer.

Introducing MAESTRO: Not Just Another RF Cable Builder, but a Composer of Optimal Interconnect Solutions

There are plenty of online cable builders in the RF and microwave industry. When we began developing MAESTRO, we didn't want to simply create another one. We looked at what was already available and asked a different question: What information does an engineer actually need to make a better RF interconnect decision?

Performance has to be part of that answer. ConductRF manufactures performance RF and microwave interconnect solutions, and our assemblies are validated against our specifications. MAESTRO was conceived to bring more of that performance information directly into the product selection and configuration process.

Rather than simply selecting a cable and two connectors, engineers can evaluate how those choices affect the resulting assembly. That includes parameters such as VSWR and insertion loss, with additional performance information - including phase-related characteristics - part of the continuing development of the platform.

The objective is straightforward: allow engineers to make decisions based not simply on cable or connector styles, but on the system performance requirements of their application.

Choice Means More Than a ConductRF Part Number

One of the ideas behind MAESTRO is something that has actually been part of ConductRF for years: choice.

Engineers don't necessarily begin an application by asking, "Which ConductRF product should I buy?" They begin with requirements: frequency, loss, VSWR, phase stability, cable diameter, flexibility, connector interface, mechanical constraints, environment, price and lead time. Our job is to help them arrive at the right combination.

That is why ConductRF isn't limited to offering assemblies built exclusively around ConductRF-branded cable and connector components. Depending on the solution, ConductRF can work with products and technologies from:

ConductRF • Harbour Industries • Insulated Wire • Radiall • Southwest Microwave • SV Microwave • TE Connectivity • Times Microwave • Amphenol • Huber+Suhner • Junkosha • Molex • Corning Gilbert • Rosenberger • and others

During the Microwave Journal interview, Dean used a very specific example: an engineer might want a Huber+Suhner SMA on one end, an SMPM on the other, built using Junkosha MWX cable. MAESTRO is intended to make combinations like these easier to identify, configure and manufacture.

That is what we mean when we talk about choice. It isn't simply having more products in a catalog. It is giving engineers more pathways to the right solution.

Start With the Interface

Connector choice alone illustrates how quickly RF cable assembly selection can become complicated. ConductRF supports an extensive range of RF and microwave interfaces, including:

1.0 mm • 1.85 mm (V) • 2.4 mm • 2.92 mm (K) • 3.5 mm • 7/16 DIN • BNC • BMA • GPO • HN • MCX • MMCX • N-Type • NMD • SMA • SMB • SMP • SMPM • SMPS • TNC • VITA 67.3 SMPM • VITA 67.3 SMPS • VITA 67.3 NanoRF • D38999

RF isn't necessarily the entire interconnect requirement. ConductRF also supports fiber optic, high-speed data, power and control-signal interconnects, including Ethernet, Twinax, Quadrax, Micro-D, D-Sub, single-mode, multi-mode and expanded-beam fiber, along with in-series and between-series adapters.

The objective isn't to overwhelm engineers with options. It's to make those options useful.

Then Choose the Cable

The same philosophy applies to cable construction. Depending on the application, the appropriate solution might be flexible, hand-formable, semi-flexible, semi-rigid, designed specifically for test, or incorporated into a multi-signal assembly or harness.

MAESTRO began by giving customers the ability to configure around some of the industry's commonly used cable sizes, including .047, .086 and .141-inch solutions, and then select among different connector styles and product characteristics.

But the larger idea is more important than any individual cable or connector: enable engineers to compose and compare possible solutions. If one configuration provides lower insertion loss, another greater flexibility, another extended frequency capability, and another the best combination of performance, availability and price, those are meaningful engineering choices.

From Cable Builder to Engineering Tool

That's an important distinction in what we're trying to accomplish with MAESTRO. We didn't set out simply to put a cable builder on the ConductRF website. The vision is an engineering selection tool.

The goal is to bring together things an engineer would normally have to investigate separately - cable construction, connector compatibility, electrical performance, physical characteristics, manufacturer options, pricing and lead time - and make them part of a more intuitive selection process.

Registered users can access live pricing and lead-time information while configuring assemblies, and the platform is designed to make performance alternatives increasingly visible. The question we want MAESTRO to help answer is simple: Given the requirements of my application, what are my best options?

25 Years of U.S. Manufacturing

There was another milestone Dean was particularly proud to discuss at IMS 2025: 25 years of manufacturing in the United States.

At a time when tariffs, reshoring and domestic manufacturing have become major topics throughout the electronics industry, U.S.-based manufacturing isn't a new initiative for ConductRF. As Dean put it during the interview: "We don't have to return to the USA. We've been here all the time."

ConductRF continues to manufacture RF and microwave cable assemblies in the United States, combining domestic manufacturing with the flexibility to work with components and technologies from leading suppliers throughout the industry.

Building the Next ConductRF

MAESTRO is one part of a broader evolution. We are expanding the ways engineers can research products, understand their options, evaluate performance and engage with ConductRF - whether they know exactly what they need or want our team to help engineer the solution.

Some customers will want a standardized ConductRF assembly. Some will want to configure their own solution through MAESTRO. Others will come to us with an application, a performance requirement or a problem that hasn't yet been solved. We want to be able to serve all of them.

Understanding the application. Providing meaningful choices. And helping RF engineers arrive at the interconnect solution that's perfect for them. That's what ConductRF is all about.

Start a conversation with our technical and sales support team here: conductrf.com/contact

Editor's note: This website update is adapted from a Microwave Journal interview with ConductRF President Dean Gammell recorded at IMS 2025. RF cable assembly product and capability references have been edited for readability and aligned with ConductRF's current RF coaxial interconnect terminology.