Coax to microstrip orthogonal launchers (10) that use a compressible fuzz button center conductor as a solderless interconnect. The launcher comprises a coaxial connector (14) having a center conductor (15) that contacts a compressible fuzz button interconnect (20). In certain embodiments, the fuzz button interconnect directly contacts one end of a microstrip line (36). In another embodiment, the microstrip line is formed on a curved microstrip circuit board (30), and the fuzz button interconnect contacts a pin (47) that has a thin metal tab (48) that is adhesively secured to the one end of the microstrip line. In all embodiments, a second coaxial connector (17) has a center conductor that contacts the opposite end of the microstrip conductor line. The present invention eliminates need for precise soldering by using the fuzz button interconnect to create a solderless compression contact between the coaxial connector and the microstrip line. The present invention provides a simple way to vertically launch an RF signal onto microstrip transmission line from a coaxial cable and operates at frequencies up to 18 GHz.
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