small cable connector

Sep 02, 2013 15 Replies
J

I'm thinking of putting a photodiode and a preamp in a small machined block, one cubic inch or so. It will need a cable with three or preferably four wires plus shield back to the digitizer box. I guess I could solder the cable to the board, but that's inelegant.



So I'd like a really small connector pair, PCB end and cable end. Mini-SLRs are a bit big, stick out pretty far, and Lemos are expensive and confusing.



Digikey lists 155,386 circular connectors.



Anybody got a favorite, really small 3 or 4-pin connector?


John Larkin Highland Technology Inc www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com Precision electronic instrumentation Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators Custom timing and laser controllers Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators
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J

Oh, you must be missing a few then.

Here, Farnell have 246,291

There you go, pick one of those. Problem solved :)

John Devereux
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S

M8 connectors might be a possibility. They're quite popular for industrial sensors.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
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T

Take a look at Mini-XLR

Switchcraft has some PCB TH mount and SMT mount connectors.

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J

Yeah, those look cool, multi-sourced, cable assemblies available. Thanks.

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com Precision electronic instrumentation Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators Custom timing and laser controllers Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators
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P

How about an FFC plus a bit of copper tape backing?

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 USA +1 845 480 2058 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
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S

I assumed that's what he meant by "Mini-SLR". ;-)

(Though if you're thinking of a mini-SLR, a Fuji X100s ought to be on the list to look at- what a gorgeous rangefinder gadget with retro appearance).

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
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L

looks like they are just as "big" as mini xlr, there's also an M5 size

formatting link

or if you can live with the potential short when inserting, how about micro jack? 2.5 or 3.5 mm with four pins

-Lasse

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J

Hmmm, maybe micro-USB is a candidate. Tiny, 4+shield, cheap.

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com Precision electronic instrumentation Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators Custom timing and laser controllers Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators
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J

From the cheap consumer electronics side of the fence...

2.5mm 4 conductor plug and PCB mount jack: Molded cables available cheap and everywhere. Make sure that the preamp power source can handle a momentary short as the plug is inserted. If there's any rotational movement of the plug, you may see some noise on the output. That might make right angle connectors a bad idea.
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
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G

Some usb thing? (We use a lot of Hirose connectors, but they are big and clunky... Perfect for me! :^)

George H.

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M

I'd go for the mini-XLR. Too many things have microusb on them. Who know what this thing will get connected to accidentally.

Oh, and I suspect Lemo can supply a good connector.

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S

I was over at a German supplier a while ago, and they were showing me a new product they'd designed. They were using a high density Lemo- I asked what he thought of them. After rattling off a whole bunch of things that were bad, "but they were the only ones that would do the job".

They're nice connectors and all that, but that comes at a price, and not just the parts- lead time etc. Try to source a M9-0.6 tap, for example.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
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J

Some of their medical-grade circular connectors cost kilobucks each.

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com Precision electronic instrumentation Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators Custom timing and laser controllers Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators
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M

Yeah, the Lemo line was put there for entertainment. There are Lemo imitators, But there is little difference between 100x overpriced and

80x overpriced.

I still like the mini-XLR, especially if you are going to wire this up by hand. Plus it is a connector designed for low level signals, though not high impedance as in your situation. I have a DC calibrator that uses the full size XLR on the low voltage output.

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M

Switchcraft TA4FL?

Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.
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