I take back all the bad stuff I've ever said about EE Times. Sorry.

Hello John,

Nice. Judging from the SMB connectors I'd assume that these products are more for the high society. Unless it's a trade secret: What type of overlays did you use for the front and the mountain logo?

We did the artwork, and these are made for us by Melrose Nameplate company, little polycarb stickons, laser cut. They cost about $5 a set, qty 100 sets.

I like SMBs bacause they're small (BNCs wouldn't fit) and easy to mate/unmate (SMAs take all day to screw/unscrew.) MCXs are nice, too, but people are less familiar with these.

John

Hello John,

Thanks for the info. That is a decent price.

BNC would be really tight there. Cost is not an issue here but in one case I convinced a client to switch from SMB to, gasp, RCA. The first reaction in that design review was "say WHAT?". It was mostly sub-30MHz stuff but sensitive and lo and behold it performed just as good as with SMB. In compromise and to appease some folks I suggested gold plated versions so the looks would still be there, kind of ;-)

RCA's are actually pretty good connectors.

The RS232 connector on this box is a tiny stereo headphone connector, transmit/receive/ground. It's just next to the ethernet RJ45, which is actually a Lantronix Xport thing.

John

With 3M (or whatever) adhesive laminated?

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Hello John,

Indeed they are.

Those I don't use in designs anymore. Too much bad luck. The large 1/4" ones are ok but the 3.5mm and 2.5mm varieties are IMHO way too flimsy.

Hello Spehro,

Polycarb stuff is usually peel-and-stick. The last one I spec'd in had an adhesive from Henkel in Germany, IIRC. Very strong, basically unremovable once on the panel.

Sure, they just peel off and stick on. They have that sort of fruity smell the 3M adhesives seem to have. The led windows aren't holes, just translucent frosty circles.

We're using the same sorts of stickers on the fronts of our VME modules lately, with Osram right-angle surface-mount led's... looks very nice and avoids a lot of hassle with surface finishes and silkscreening and like that.

The laser cutting is just a bit ragged on the edges, not as nice as steel rule dies but a lot cheaper.

John

I've never had problems with the through-hole versions -- the surface mount ones do seem to crack their solder joints far more than they should.

Interesting. The performance is pretty much what we were getting with our strobpscopic electron microscope in 1991, but your pacjkage is a great deal more compact, and won't contain any Gigabit Logic GaAs.

And our microscope never made it into production ...

There's a couple of ways of applying adhesive- it can be screened on or they can laminate roll adhesive to the back of the overlay (sort of a double-faced tape with a kraft paper backing and no tape, just adhesive. The latter is a bit more expensive in high volume, but it gives superior consistency (particularly the thickness of adhesive layer). Additional windows may have to be cut into it for things that have to show through clearly. I've used 3M and Sony adhesives. In some cases you may need safety agency approvals on the adhesive.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Think about this when you now have to use lead-free solder!

I noticed that too on the laser cut ones. Probably not an issue on your design as I doubt it is being carried around in anyones pocket. Hey, with that publicity, hope you sell a MILLION or two :)

Nice lil gizmo. Who makes the extrusion, I'm trrying to find something cheaper than the Phoenix-mecano "alubos" range

martin

I sorta recognize the box, nice. Who makes that John?

Maybe you shouldn't have used those 555's ;-)

-- Joe Legris

The electron beam tester was a 555-free zone (as far as I know - I didn't check out the power supplies and the like that we bought in).

Hello Joel,

It wasn't the solder joints that usually failed. It was the rather weird concept of relying on the spring load forces to hold the plug to one side so it makes contact with the ground ring. Even the better jacks that had a third spring weren't too reliable in my experience.

Just think about all the long haul flight you took where they provide headphones. I'd say that in almost 50% of these the connection for my headphones was ratty. Usually I had to sit on the cord to pull it in one direction so the crackling would stop.

Good morning Joerg,

Ah, gotcha.

I'd say my experience is more like... 20%? Although it probably varies the type of flights you fly -- for shorter flights the jacks probably aren't used as often.

So maybe there was something to the old system that literally used tubes (like a stethoscope) for the audio -- pretty much impossible to break.

---Joel