MTA-156 IDC Receptacle for 18 AWG Harness Wiring
The 0.156" (3.96mm) pitch is the defining board-fit dimension — wider than the 0.100" signal standard, giving more room for power routing on the PCB and a larger contact beam for the 18 AWG wire. The orange housing colour is a visual key for the MTA-156 series, helping identify the pitch at a glance on the harness bench. The feed-through feature allows the IDC termination to pass the wire through the connector body, enabling daisy-chain wiring in multi-drop harness layouts without a separate splice.
Tin Contact Finish and IDC Termination
Tin is the correct choice here: the IDC connection cold-welds the wire into the slot, and the thick tin provides corrosion resistance at the wire interface. This is not a high-mating-cycle design; the tin contact is rated for the few insertion/removal cycles typical of harness assembly and field service, not repeated disconnect-reconnect duty. The IDC termination accepts 18 AWG wire — a single wire gauge, not a range — so the harness builder must confirm the wire size matches exactly. The connector accepts both discrete wire and ribbon cable, giving flexibility in cable construction for the same receptacle part number.
Mating and Compatibility with MTA-156 Headers
This receptacle mates with any MTA-156 header of the same 0.156" (3.96mm) pitch and matching position count — 8 positions. No keying or polarisation feature beyond the standard MTA-156 shroud — the header's shroud is asymmetrical, preventing 180° mis-mating.