Connector rant

G

George Herold

Guest
Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.
 
On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 5:22:17 PM UTC-5, Martin Riddle wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.

Samtec ?
I saw them on Digikey. I don't know are they OK?
Click to expand...

We don't use many inter board connectors.
(I could describe my best layout style as;
opamps on a pcb behind the front panel with switches
and pots. Which leads to kinda big front panels.)

George H.
Cheers
Click to expand...
 
On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 8:19:24 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:06:04 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 5:22:17 PM UTC-5, Martin Riddle wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.

Samtec ?
I saw them on Digikey. I don't know are they OK?

We don't use many inter board connectors.
(I could describe my best layout style as;
opamps on a pcb behind the front panel with switches
and pots. Which leads to kinda big front panels.)

George H.

Cheers

Samtec makes excellent stuff. Not the cheapest, but very good.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I don't need the cheapest, Samtec came up when I sorted by
price on DK.
I'm doing a front panel now, with a big gorgeous color LCD, a spinner
knob, and a zillion back-lit pushbuttons. Melrose Nameplate is making
a custom molded silicone pushbutton array for us, with detents and
carbon-button contacts. V-bite BNC connectors.
Click to expand...
This is a right angle contact between two pcb's.
I haven't done it that much before, except for an
instrument I took over... from which I learned
to fit it all together and in the end, solder in the
switches and such.
I'm still laying it out. Getting all the mechanicals
right in 3D is a pain. (I'll probably make an electrical
error on the first try too..)

It's gonna be beautiful. We may do several instruments on that
foundation.
Click to expand...

Sounds nice, using the same bits in different ways makes
it all cheaper.

George H.

--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Click to expand...
 
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
<gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.
Click to expand...

Samtec ?

Cheers
 
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:06:04 -0800 (PST), George Herold
<gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 5:22:17 PM UTC-5, Martin Riddle wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.

Samtec ?
I saw them on Digikey. I don't know are they OK?

We don't use many inter board connectors.
(I could describe my best layout style as;
opamps on a pcb behind the front panel with switches
and pots. Which leads to kinda big front panels.)

George H.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Samtec makes excellent stuff. Not the cheapest, but very good.

I'm doing a front panel now, with a big gorgeous color LCD, a spinner
knob, and a zillion back-lit pushbuttons. Melrose Nameplate is making
a custom molded silicone pushbutton array for us, with detents and
carbon-button contacts. V-bite BNC connectors.

It's gonna be beautiful. We may do several instruments on that
foundation.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
 
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 18:10:31 -0800 (PST), George Herold
<gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 8:19:24 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:06:04 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 5:22:17 PM UTC-5, Martin Riddle wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.

Samtec ?
I saw them on Digikey. I don't know are they OK?

We don't use many inter board connectors.
(I could describe my best layout style as;
opamps on a pcb behind the front panel with switches
and pots. Which leads to kinda big front panels.)

George H.

Cheers

Samtec makes excellent stuff. Not the cheapest, but very good.
Thanks, I don't need the cheapest, Samtec came up when I sorted by
price on DK.

I'm doing a front panel now, with a big gorgeous color LCD, a spinner
knob, and a zillion back-lit pushbuttons. Melrose Nameplate is making
a custom molded silicone pushbutton array for us, with detents and
carbon-button contacts. V-bite BNC connectors.
This is a right angle contact between two pcb's.
I haven't done it that much before, except for an
instrument I took over... from which I learned
to fit it all together and in the end, solder in the
switches and such.
I'm still laying it out. Getting all the mechanicals
right in 3D is a pain. (I'll probably make an electrical
error on the first try too..)
Click to expand...

We'll use a ribbon cable to connect the front-panel board to the main
board. That lets us hop over all the electronics and connectors at the
front of the main board. And no alignment dims to calculate.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

lunatic fringe electronics
 
On Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at 1:58:56 PM UTC-5, default wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.

Not exactly on topic, but why the hell can't they give me some clue as
to how micro-usb connectors align in the dark with maybe a little bit
of a tactile hint? My eyesight just isn't what it once was..

And while we're at it, what idiot came up with the idea of using those
puny little connectors for recharge ports anyway? Recharging is done
so often that the connector will wear out before either the battery or
tablet (I'm on my third cable). The coax plug is far more robust and
has no wrong orientation.
Click to expand...

I'll try and plug the big usb's in the wrong way up, but that's
pretty easy to feel.
I've replaced the usb plug on two nexus 7's (owned by my kids.)
It get's easier the second time around.

George H.
And polarized two wire mains plugs? Ditto, a tactile projection on
the plug would sure make that easier.

Works with airplanes.. you don't have to look to tell which lever your
hand is resting on. (you better look - but you don't have to)
Click to expand...
 
On 02/14/2017 08:19 PM, John Larkin wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:06:04 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 5:22:17 PM UTC-5, Martin Riddle
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector..
pcb-pcb right angle. So why are connectors more expensive than
opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6
brother? https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some
Amphenol types in stock and after being overwhelmed with the
choices on Digikey I narrowed down to those.

George H.

Samtec ?
I saw them on Digikey. I don't know are they OK?

We don't use many inter board connectors. (I could describe my best
layout style as; opamps on a pcb behind the front panel with
switches and pots. Which leads to kinda big front panels.)

George H.

Cheers

Samtec makes excellent stuff. Not the cheapest, but very good.

I'm doing a front panel now, with a big gorgeous color LCD, a
spinner knob, and a zillion back-lit pushbuttons. Melrose Nameplate
is making a custom molded silicone pushbutton array for us, with
detents and carbon-button contacts. V-bite BNC connectors.

It's gonna be beautiful. We may do several instruments on that
foundation.
Click to expand...

I'm not quite visualizing how the V-bites work there--are they on the
main board or do the BNCs come out the top of the box?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
 
On 02/14/2017 02:33 PM, George Herold wrote:
Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.
Click to expand...

I usually use FFCs, or SIP leadframes for very small stuff.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
 
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
<gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.
Click to expand...

Not exactly on topic, but why the hell can't they give me some clue as
to how micro-usb connectors align in the dark with maybe a little bit
of a tactile hint? My eyesight just isn't what it once was..

And while we're at it, what idiot came up with the idea of using those
puny little connectors for recharge ports anyway? Recharging is done
so often that the connector will wear out before either the battery or
tablet (I'm on my third cable). The coax plug is far more robust and
has no wrong orientation.

And polarized two wire mains plugs? Ditto, a tactile projection on
the plug would sure make that easier.

Works with airplanes.. you don't have to look to tell which lever your
hand is resting on. (you better look - but you don't have to)
 
On Wed, 15 Feb 2017 11:57:04 -0500, Phil Hobbs
<pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/14/2017 08:19 PM, John Larkin wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:06:04 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 5:22:17 PM UTC-5, Martin Riddle
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector..
pcb-pcb right angle. So why are connectors more expensive than
opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6
brother? https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some
Amphenol types in stock and after being overwhelmed with the
choices on Digikey I narrowed down to those.

George H.

Samtec ?
I saw them on Digikey. I don't know are they OK?

We don't use many inter board connectors. (I could describe my best
layout style as; opamps on a pcb behind the front panel with
switches and pots. Which leads to kinda big front panels.)

George H.

Cheers

Samtec makes excellent stuff. Not the cheapest, but very good.

I'm doing a front panel now, with a big gorgeous color LCD, a
spinner knob, and a zillion back-lit pushbuttons. Melrose Nameplate
is making a custom molded silicone pushbutton array for us, with
detents and carbon-button contacts. V-bite BNC connectors.

It's gonna be beautiful. We may do several instruments on that
foundation.

I'm not quite visualizing how the V-bites work there--are they on the
main board or do the BNCs come out the top of the box?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
Click to expand...

They are on the horizontal main board and sneak through holes in the
front panel just below the vertical front-panel board.

The front panel is, in order

Sticker

punched metal plate

Melrose silicone pushbutton array with carbon pads

PC board with pushbutton contact pads on one side, down-firing LEDs on
the other

Silly baby board for the encoder

and the LCD sandwiched in there somewhere.


FTDI makes a cool smart LCD controller chip that we can talk to SPI,
through the ribbon cable.



I'll post pics when it's all done.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
 
On Wed, 15 Feb 2017 10:58:54 -0800, default <default@defaulter.net>
wrote:

On Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:33:57 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Sorry I spent part of the morning looking for a connector.. pcb-pcb right angle.
So why are connectors more expensive than opamps?

And why is a 2X8 connector ~$1.50 cheaper than it's 2X6 brother?
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-008lf
https://octopart.com/search?q=66953-006lf

Does anyone have a favorite connector brand? We've got some Amphenol types
in stock and after being overwhelmed with the choices on Digikey I narrowed
down to those.

George H.

Not exactly on topic, but why the hell can't they give me some clue as
to how micro-usb connectors align in the dark with maybe a little bit
of a tactile hint? My eyesight just isn't what it once was..
Click to expand...

In the dark? They are ambiguous enough in the light.

I put red paint dots on connectors and cameras to orient them.

USB3 wull be ambidextrous, after all these years.

Ironic, that word "Universal."

Blame Intel.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
 
John Larkin wrote:
FTDI makes a cool smart LCD controller chip that we can talk to SPI,
through the ribbon cable.

I'll post pics when it's all done.
Click to expand...

Have you seen these LCD interface boards?

I2C-IIC-TWI-Serial-Interface-Board-Module-for-Arduino-R3-LCD-1602-2004-Display/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281707994237


--
Never piss off an Engineer!

They don't get mad.

They don't get even.

They go for over unity! ;-)
 
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