Page 2 of 2
Re: Thin pin headers for "piggy-back" boards
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2024 4:43 am
by barnacle
There was a definite feeling of solidity and generally improved quality when turned pin sockets were used, but that only tended to happen when someone else was paying for them
btw - anyone else from the UK remember when VAT was charged on components at 8% - because they were essentials - but at 25% on sockets, aka frivolous luxuries?
Neil
Re: Thin pin headers for "piggy-back" boards
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2024 9:12 pm
by BigDumbDinosaur
We fairly often see damaged sockets in the land of Acorn...One way to deal with a damaged socket is to put a turned-pin socket into it and then use that.
The socket-in-a-socket idea is a good one. On my POC units when I’m tinkering with the firmware, I put a ZIF socket into the ROM socket so the latter doesn’t get worn out. Also, using a ZIF makes ROM insertion easy for someone who doesn’t have good close-up vision. 
The particular socket I use is an Aries product with a lever mounted perpendicular to the long axis of the socket. Its footprint is not much larger than the ROM itself. As a bonus, there is an opening with each pin that allows one to insert a test probe. It’s not an inexpensive part, but then, you’d likely be moving it from project to project, so it would be a one-time cost.
Re: Thin pin headers for "piggy-back" boards
Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2024 1:35 pm
by Osi
These Aries ZIF sockets look great. A bit expensive and hard to get in Europe.
But the connectors are 0.3mm thick and fit perfectly into standard IC sockets. To me it looks like Aries did this on purpose to allow for safe insertion.
Re: Thin pin headers for "piggy-back" boards
Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2024 4:09 pm
by BigDumbDinosaur
These Aries ZIF sockets look great. A bit expensive and hard to get in Europe.
But the connectors are 0.3mm thick and fit perfectly into standard IC sockets. To me it looks like Aries did this on purpose to allow for safe insertion.
On Mouser’s German site, they list the socket for 11.71€, which is comparable to what I paid for it here in the USA. Of course, there’s shipping... 
I actually wore out the ROM socket on POC V1.0 following an intense period of firmware development (also “wore out” several EPROMs—they wouldn’t program anymore). Desoldering a 28-pin socket is not my idea of an evening’s entertainment. 
So I went on a quest to find a ZIF socket that would plug into a standard DIP socket and not take up a lot of space.
Re: Thin pin headers for "piggy-back" boards
Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2024 7:41 pm
by plasmo
I have accidentally discovered that a SMT-to-DIP adapter has ZIF-like property. This is because the adapter with long pins stands much higher over a socket than a standard DIP so there is mechanical leverage and furthermore fingers can go under the carrier pc board to lift up the adapter easily. I frequently used such adapter to develop ROM software like this early version of CB030.
Bill