NEMO is a term from 50s television, and/or radio, whose etymology is unclear... the most believable story is that it's an acronym from Not Emanating from the Main Office -- though that doesn't really explain what they do.
Nemo circuits were just analog audio circuits that were routed all around your building, appearing on every
patch panel, so that you could, when needed, get a signal from anywhere, to anywhere else.
We did the RNC when it was in Tampa, and in prep for that (I think the story goes) we had 4 Nemos laid in from our Mainstage to our Blackbox, in case we needed to tie the two rooms together. When Nemos are not landed on a
patch panel, I gather, it's common to put a male and a female on the same plate, tied in parallel, so you don't need turnarounds regardless of what
plug you have handy. It's a stretch; I just like the term.
Understood / comprehended.
During my Radio Daze, 1964 through 1977 inclusive, I worked in a station's original studios, eventually rose to 2nd in charge of its 6 tower AM TX site's maintenance (Especially when the Chief
Eng du jour was on vacation) and had a
hand in fabricating / wiring and connectorizing three new main studio locations as leases expired / owners changed / more affordable OR more prestigious locations were desired dependent upon the whims of the three new owners within the space of my 13 years.
I never heard your acronym, perhaps it never escaped lil' Donnie's walls?
Decades later, while assisting a friend of several decades, I found myself installing (To Spec') clusters of Female / Male tie lines on bulkheads throughout at least three new theatres being erected from undisturbed soil / on up and terminated as 12 vertical pairs across each 2 RU basement / or Main Booth rack panel (12 per panel, room for engraved labels and fat fingers).
The 1st time we did this, the consultants assumed we'd mount traditional connectors then laboriously solder / terminate them on site in / during ugly, dirty, muddy, wet, poorly illuminated, construction site conditions.
My clever friend chose the following method:
He designed / had fabricated small, narrow, double-sided PC boards; 1 board per parallel connected pair (Double-sided to facilitate pins 1 & 2 being on opposite sides, left to right, when mounted above each other).
He also designed / had fabricated 2 RU, black, flanged panels each with six rows of PRECISELY located (
Laser cut) holes and appropriate
laser engraved labeling filled with white enamel [Six rows, two for connectors + 4 for mounting].
The connectors he chose were Neutriks designed to have their mounting flanges secured to a panel and their inserts secured within their flanges by rotating a
tiny Allen-drive cam (housed within each insert) 90 degrees to securely capture / lock it within a small slot within each mounting flange. The inserts were designed specifically to be mounted / secured / (Wave) soldered in place on PC boards.
In our shop we used black,
flat head / Allen drive 4-40 bolts (Machine screws if you prefer) to secure the housings to internally, through-threaded, hexagonal standoffs [ Nut driver on the back / Allen driver on the front; quick, easy, done deal]. The panels were individually wrapped in
bubble wrap for protection then taken to the job site over the course of several months as needed.
The back of each double-sided PC board had a 3 pole
terminal block with individual holes to receive (non-tinned) conductors and secure them via Allen drive set-screws bearing down on captive metal pinch plates.
On site: Armed with only
wire strippers, Teflon sleeves for shields, Hellerman sleeves overall, Ty-wraps and a trusty Ty-wrap gun; termination was quick / painless with the cables dressed and secured to narrow lacing rails pre-mounted on stand off in our shop prior to transporting to the site.
ALL of the above worked SO well for at least three theatres.
The fourth
theatre was spec'd by a Chicago based consultant who insisted on populating each 2 RU panel with 16 parallel connected female / male pairs. The gentleman was bound and determined to educate us poor Eskimos and refused to accept any / all attempts to communicate / suggest populating each 2 RU panel with 12, rather than 16, pairs of parallel connected female / males.
The fourth
theatre was "interesting". Many field bulkheads were spec'd with 6 tie lines each.
Labelling two groups of six would have been OH so convenient / simple / easy for the end-users to read / comprehend.
Splitting his 3rd group of six across two of his 16 per 2 RU panels was ( Anal, asinine, infuriating, silly) somewhat frustrating requiring re-drafting, resulting in less space for labelling, smaller fonts, less room for fat fingers, yada, yada.
We poor ignorant and unschooled northerners learned SO much from the fine Chicago based gentleman. Forgive me for saying / typing this: Sometimes we learn how to do something; sometimes we learn how NOT to do something.
All learning experiences are to be appreciated. As
@TimMc would put it: I relinquish the
lectern / Rant Off.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard