Conenctions to panel electronics

Hi all,

I was wondering what method everyone uses to connect the panel electronics to the I/O cards? I was thinking to put the spring-loaded terminal blocks like the ones on the Bodnar cards on my panel circuit boards, and then use plain old hookup wire to connect to the I/O cards breakout boards. Seems like an easy way to keep everything easy to re-configure. I had previously connect the hardware (encoders,etc) directly to the breakout boards, but it was very cumbersome to make changes. I have a DB15 on the panel to connect the digits board to the displays card header board I made. What other methods do you use?

Buddy

Nothing as easy to use as the spring clips in my setup. One board had wires soldered directly to the pcb, one came with male header pins on the board requiring me solder wires to female plugs. (avoid this if you can unless you really love solder tiny pieces together.) This allows you to move the plugs from pin set to pin set. These connections are not very secure, and I would not buy that style again. My only other interface right now is a hack of my ch yoke to repurpose the pots on the three stupid little levers.

Hope that helps!

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Originally Posted by Buddym

Hi all,

I was wondering what method everyone uses to connect the panel electronics to the I/O cards? I was thinking to put the spring-loaded terminal blocks like the ones on the Bodnar cards on my panel circuit boards, and then use plain old hookup wire to connect to the I/O cards breakout boards. Seems like an easy way to keep everything easy to re-configure. I had previously connect the hardware (encoders,etc) directly to the breakout boards, but it was very cumbersome to make changes. I have a DB15 on the panel to connect the digits board to the displays card header board I made. What other methods do you use?

Buddy

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Yeah, I really would like to put connectors on all panels, but the pin grouping for grounds on the IOCards causes me to want to leave room for on-the-fly wiring changes that would be difficult if everything were hard-wired or fully connectorized. The spring terminals are cheap enough from digikey and mouser, come in lots of various pin counts, and work great. (Just another great reason to thank Leo Bodnar again!). I orders several different ones to evaluate for putting on my MJOY and Igor Plug boards and I love them. I snagged a couple of them to put on my captain-side EFIS, seems like the right fit. I know a properly engineered and implemented setup wouldn't need so much flexibility, but I know I will want to change things many times as the cockpit matures. The electronics side of things is my strong suit, so I try and go a little extra in that regard... my mechanical skills leave much to be desired!
Buddy

Buddy,

do you have a digi-key or mouser part number for the spring clips? I'm interested in giving it a try.

warren

yeah, look at mouser # 651-1990083 and 651-1990164, i think those are the ones that have 10 an 18 contacts


Buddy