Help ID a connector - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: cncjerry
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 30, 2022, 11:52:27 pm
content: Hello, I need a modern replacement for what was called a "latching keyed Berg connector" at one time. HP used them on external driver boards and their part numbers are below. I've seen some Amphenol keyed connectors that might work but thought I would try here. I was also kicking around just prying the base off the board and slipping another base down on the pins but too risky.Thanks,Jerryedit, the picture doesn't include the little latching arms on the split part of the base that are used to lock in the connector.

author: cncjerry
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 31, 2022, 02:17:40 am
content: By the way, I just found that these connectors, though they look like a typical connector for a board header, are thinner. If you use a standard dupont or amphenol connector then the locking tabs will break off. So I guess I need a thinner keyed header connector?thanksJerry

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2022, 04:29:35 pm
content: Look at the Amphenol Mini-PV series. (Mini-PV was originally Berg.)

author: cncjerry
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 31, 2022, 09:18:58 pm
content: Thanks, I'll check out the mini-pv series.I noticed today that there are minor differences in the connector that would go onto a standard .1 header. Most are .1" thick so you can stack them. So a 4-pin would be .1" x 5" give or take a little. But the one I tried to fit into the latching PCB mount was .15" thick and that cracked the latches. So I found the standard Amphenol connector that I have from a kit and they snap right into the latching base, actually so tightly coupled that when you try to pull them off the base, the base comes right off the board.What I thought I was looking for were the thinner type connectors that you sometimes find on small power connectors, LEDs for motherboards, etc. but they need to be less than .1" ideally. I did find the Amphenol base and that is an IFC series, 87800-102-FRICTION LATCH HDR, for a 1x4 latching base. but they don't list the mating part because like I mention above, I think they take the standard (.1 thick if that is the standard) size. I don't know if I'm using the right part with the 87800 series but I sent them a note asking for the part number of the mating part.ThanksJerry

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2022, 10:25:36 pm
content: Quote from: cncjerry on December 31, 2022, 09:18:58 pmNo, a 4-pin is 0.4” wide (0.3” between the outermost pins, plus 0.05” on either side of the outermost pins.) Comsider that a 1-pin housing is 0.1” x 0.1”.Quote from: cncjerry on December 31, 2022, 09:18:58 pmBut what did you try? Please share what info and equipment you have. We aren’t clairvoyant.Quote from: cncjerry on December 31, 2022, 09:18:58 pm“Standard Amphenol” doesn’t tell us anything.Quote from: cncjerry on December 31, 2022, 09:18:58 pmBy “base”, you mean “header”??By “IFC” do you mean “FCI”, the connector company that ended up under Amphenol?Anyhow, if you look at the drawing of the 87800 (and the seemingly identical 69167), the inside is 0.103”, so intended for 0.1”. (On the Amphenol website, the 87800 is listed within the Dubox line, while 69167 is listed as Mini-PV, but I cannot find any differences in the drawings.)I used 69167 in a recent project with the mating 78211 housing; both are officially in the Mini-PV series. The latching is quite decisive.

author: cncjerry
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 02, 2023, 11:07:44 pm
content: The FCC ICC type mentioned above look to be a better fit and are keyed. And Tooki, you are of course correct, I added an extra .1" for the the 4th pin. By standard Amphenol I meant those that come in an Amphenol kit, they aren't keyed, but they do latch into the base, don't know the correct term. I always considered the header to be just the pins sticking up, whereas the base mounts over the pins and in this case it has the latching fingers. The fingers break off very easily. I found the base part on Mouser for .78USD and I can just pull the broken part off the board and slip the new one on.What threw me off was this one connector lying on my desk that I thought was from my kit. It broke the fingers off the base as it had a thickness of .15" though it looked like the Amphenol connectors (those that are .1 thick) until I measured it with a caliper. I can't find any labels or part number on that connector.So I think I am going to order some of the FCI ICC type, I confused them as ICF, if I can find them in small quantities as they look exactly like those on the board (the red flat/ribbon cable)https://cdn.amphenol-cs.com/media/wysiwyg/files/documentation/datasheet/boardwiretoboard/bwb_pv_wtb.pdfBut I still haven't scoped the mini-PV.There are other connectors on the board as well. It looks like a ribbon cable connector but I don't have it in front of me. This board can drive 255 switch or attenuator elements and the boards can be daisy chained up to 8 per 70611 matrix switch. It has 32 of the subject FCC or ICC connectors plus the other ribbon type. I have no plans for anything that extensive, just to drive the attenuators and RF switches coming into and out of my phase test system. I found some very nice HP 1 x 4 RF switches on eBay cheap, like $15 per instead of the usually higher price. I'd like to be able to switch attenuators and RF amps in out as well as the master oscillators.Thanks for the help.Jerry

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2023, 10:18:16 am
content: “FCC ICC” what are you talking about? Better fit than what?“Header” means the whole thing. It’s better to stick to standard terminology than to make up your own. Don’t expect to be able to pull off the plastic part to replace it while leaving the pins behind.