On Mon, 2 May 2016, Robert Jarratt wrote: > I decided to attempt the construction of an adapter. But it is the > connectors which always bite me because I don't know what all the types of > connector are. I naively assumed that an IDC 10-way (2x5) would do the > trick, but it is too wide to go into the male connector on the board. > > What kinds of connectors exist for ribbon cables that can be used to go into > a 2x5 connector, but which don't have a lot of space at the sides?
I think this header is intended for a crimp wire receptacle, like: <http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/pcb-connector-housings/8215708/>. This is non-polarised though; getting one that is polarised and with the right key might be a bit of a challenge. Alternatively a PCB socket like: <http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/pcb-sockets/7655648/> would do too; again getting a polarised one seems tough. I don't know which of the two solutions the original DEC SROM "dongle" used. I can only find 3 references quoting the part number, which is/was 96-RM001-01. It provided for a standard DECconnect cable, so I think it's actually quite likely that it was just a small daughtercard with a PCB socket, line driver and receiver ICs (DEC documentation quotes 1488 and 1489, but with a pair of wires used for communication that looks like an overkill to me -- a single IC like MAX232N would do IMHO; RS sell them individually even) and their associated passive components, and then an MMJ socket, all on the PCB. Obviously these days you probably want a DE-9 connector instead. ;) I wonder if I shouldn't actually make something like this myself just for fun -- to have a way to peek at my DEC 3000's internals even though it appears healthy overall. Maciej
