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Berg connector on board M8104(06)

Activmaker said:
I would like to find a connector compatible with berg cables coming from 11/45 Console. I don't have any M8104(06) in front of me :( .
Do you think this connector could do the job ?
Click to expand...
Most DEC cables of that era (and on to quite a bit later) were .1" x .1" spacing, 2-row. That is very common for both ribbon cable (IDC) and discrete pins. The connector you linked is a board-mount right-angle shrouded type. If you just want to terminate an existing cable on something to pick up the pins, you would probably be better served with a straight-through unshrouded connector. That's just a grid of straight pins with a plastic spacer in the middle - then you can just solder to the particular pins you want (be sure to un-plug the mating connector before soldering).

One thing to be aware of is that DEC used a variety of pin identifications - in addition to the commonplace:

Code: 
2 4 6 8 ...

1 3 5 7 ...
DEC sometimes used (assuming a 40-pin connector):

Code: 
21 22 23 24 ... 40

 1  2  3  4 ... 20
For cables where DEC used discrete wires inserted into a connector shell, alphanumeric pin labels were sometimes used. Consult the relevant engineering drawings to determine the pinout of any particular DEC module / cable.
 
Amphenol/FCI Mini-PV housings are essentially the descendants of Berg wire shell connectors used on DEC hardware. You can still get them from Mouser. There was a series of buy-ups/buy-outs/acquisitions from DuPont -> Berg -> FCI -> Amphenol (IIRC). Very decent connectors, though beware that many generic hand crimpers will make a mess of the wire-grabbing bit on the Mini-PV crimps (they're supposed to be wrapped around the wire, most generic crimpers want to curl them into the wire and will cut the wire off!)

As to the header side, on the circuit board end, most any shrouded header will work. It's more or less the same as a 40-pin IDE connector, and one can in fact use a 40-pin IDE ribbon in the Berg connector on the DEC end!
 
glitch said:
It's more or less the same as a 40-pin IDE connector, and one can in fact use a 40-pin IDE ribbon in the Berg connector on the DEC end!
Click to expand...
Be careful with this - "modern" (relatively speaking) IDE/PATA connectors and cables are rather odd - they are a 40-pin connector with an 80-pin cable, with every other pin being ground, and various permutations of other-than-straight-through single-pin wiring as well as blocked / keyed pins.
 
Terry Kennedy said:
Be careful with this - "modern" (relatively speaking) IDE/PATA connectors and cables are rather odd - they are a 40-pin connector with an 80-pin cable, with every other pin being ground, and various permutations of other-than-straight-through single-pin wiring as well as blocked / keyed pins.
Click to expand...

Indeed, forgot to mention that! Often, with the blocked pin on 40-conductor IDE cables, you can drill out the block to expose a perfectly functional contact underneath. I have seen them with no contact loaded in that position, though.
 
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