开云体育

--I have designed a Male to Female Extender Card designed to install between a flexible Extender cable (067-0645-02) and the Plug-in being tested.
It uses a 4-pin, 0.1" pitch header on each line jumpered between pins 2 and 3 to connect through, but removable to measure current. etc. With the jumper installed pins 1 and 4 are available as test points on the line. The board is 2.5" long not including Female connector, and 4.5 inches wide to accommodate the 28-position Female connector and PCB edge fingers
It will have 4 slots between the fingers in the standard keying locations for the TM500 series modules.
The cost to make the board properly with hard gold over nickel fingers is more than I want to spend for the 2 boards I need ($300). If anyone else is interested in a well made pcb like this let me know. I used Sullin for my Female connector -- they are excellent.
Steve

Yes, I am interested to pitch in for one such extender board. I have a few 500 plug-ins that need attention. I have the 067-0645-02. Easy access to all connector lines, voltage and current, is a fine idea. Please let me know a cost, assuming others may be inclined to benefit from your work.

I would also be interested in
R Allred

Ditto on what Arne Buck said. Interest is for one extender board unless they get really cheap (< $50ea).

Thanks, Tracy Tilton

Not to dissuade OP from their project but Dan Meeks on this list may still
have some of his kits for extenders that were sub $50 USD last time I
bought one

On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 12:50?PM 2notlit via groups.io <2notlit=
[email protected]> wrote:

Ditto on what Arne Buck said. Interest is for one extender board unless
they get really cheap (< $50ea).

Thanks, Tracy Tilton

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--Eric
_________________________________________
Eric Garner

On Fri, Feb 14, 2025 at 07:49 PM, <info@...> wrote:

The cost to make the board properly with hard gold over nickel fingers is more
than I want to spend for the 2 boards I need ($300)

Hi:
AFAIK... there have been a few projects about/similar to this.
If you have the time, and the desire... can you explain why they cost 150.00 each?


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Roy Thistle

On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 12:56 PM, Eric Garner wrote:

Not to dissuade OP from their project

Well... many of us...on this forum... IMO... are hobbyists.
Probably, I am not very smart... but AFAICT... time, connectors, and fiddling around with shipping, can be expensive... but, high quality PCB are not.
On way around the distribution problem is to register a 'project' with a PCB manufacturer, and then anyone can order the PCB.
Also, at least down to common components, the PCB manufacturer can also manufacture the thing to that level, and even provide a kit.
The connectors for these...ARAIK... are not as much of a problem sourcing anymore.
If one is worried about quality, and not their wallet... then buying the Tektronix ones... when they show up... might be a better solution.

--
Roy Thistle

I have my boards made at PCBWay. They produce extremely high quality boards at very reasonable prices. When gold fingers are involved using the traditional gold over nickel the fingers are electroplated which takes extensive time and Gold is EXPENSIVE. The difference in cost between the 5 board minimum and 25 boards is only about $35, once you cover the extra setup. If I pursue the project, they will also do a 30 degree bevel on the finger end of the board to allow it to fit into the female connector easily. I am investigating a less costly but still rugged finger treatment called Enepig (electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold). This finish is cheaper to apply than the the electroplated gold over nickel, but still make a set of boards in the $150 + range instead of the $20+ range.

Another expensive item is the Female connector. I plan to use the Sullins ECM28DRKN-S!3 which can be ordered from Digikey for $10.72 each, but minimum order is 10 pcs.
This very high quality connector uses full bellows Gold over Nickel phosphor bronze contacts. The contacts and the plastic are rated at 125 degrees C.
The gold plated 4-pin headers are not cheap, either and 56 of them are required for each extender board. FCI part number 95293--101-04LH (30u" gold over NI) or 95283-801LF (15u" Gold over NI). The Jumpers are also expensive: FCI 65474-001. 56 required, 60 recommended in case you lose a couple.

The design is very high quality, but as a result it is not cheap. Actually the construction will be superior to the male end of my Tek 067-0645-02 TM500 extender cable. The male end of their cable did not have the 30 degree bevel which makes it much harder to insert into a female connector than the typical plug in.

I am continuing to research the costs for this project, but it is not going to come in at the $50 price of the one on eBay that uses raw copper for the board and fingers, with no test points.

Hopefully there will be enough interest to group buy the parts.

Steve