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Let's Run this Back. Who Can Tell me What this PCB does?

RealMFnG

RealMFnG

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a pointless bridge to a cf adapter.
pointless, because you could have integrated the cf socket on the same pcb :)
 
stj said:
a pointless bridge to a cf adapter.
pointless, because you could have integrated the cf socket on the same pcb :)
Click to expand...
Ding, ding, ding! Winner, winner, chicken dinner. You are right, but I there are problems to solve for and I want to keep things simple, easy to source, and as inexpensive as possible. Also, form factor is a consideration. Let's unpack the discussion.
  • Firstly, the thing that makes you believe it is pointless has been done before
    • One user has reported back that he attempted to assemble that adapter
    • The status he reported back is that it doesn't work
      • Probably a solder bridge somewhere. But then again, hand soldering such a fine pitch package by hand isn't something everyone can do
  • tecfutur's adapter also relies on obtaining a 50-pin male SCSI-2 board connector
    • These aren't made anymore and are virtually impossible to find
    • Perhaps you can harvest them off other parts, or
    • There might be stock somewhere out there in some unknown warehouse, but the cost is going to be pretty high (though, I could be wrong on costs)
  • The lowest cost of CF socket on Digikey is about $7 USD
    • Add to that the additional cost of resistors, LED's, caps, power connector
    • Of course, more complex assembly has to be factored in as well
  • While a pair of CF-to-IDE adapters is $7.60 USD from Amazon. Likely, even less if bought from other sources
  • Lastly, integrating the CF socket on the same PCB is going to make such an adapter have a vertical profile
    • I want this thing to plug directly into a DIMM (no SCSI cable), then lay horizontally across the top of a DIMM with some insulation in between
In any case, I am shooting for non-destructiveness and simplicity. I know CF booting isn't as slick as netbooting or pibooting. But it does offer is simplicity and lower costs. Fire up a CF boot configured cab and then you are playing moments later. That is what you want really for these two reasons:
  1. Allow casual guests you invite over to get going on their own
  2. Not being able to switch games as easily keeps the game in constant rotation allowing you to get the most from the game
The thing left for me to solve for is the 50-pin male SCSI-2 board connector. I know the following about its attributes:
  1. Mating pitch is 1.27mm
  2. Row spacing is 2.54mm
  3. Contact pin thickness is 30.0µin (0.76µm)
But I don't know what length is needed to make the mating contact. Use of 50 pin male SCSI-2 connectors is ruled out; too hard to source. Will be using pin headers instead. Once that is solved for, should be easy to whip this up.
 
You are going to want to make the mating side of the pin header 3.8mm or less, maybe go with 3.6mm.

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