Monday, 29 May 2017

DRO scales 4-pin connector identification


I've purchased some scales for use with a mini milling machine and the open source DRO-550 digital readout platform. They are essentially equivalent to permamenet mount digital vernier calipers so that the X/Y/Z position of the milling table can be tracked and displayed. The end product is shown below with the included LCD readout:


DRO scales


Many scales use a standard mini USB connector even though the protocol is more SPI-like, however these use a 4-pin connector that I'd like help identifying. In the first photo the top scale of the ruler is 1/64" so it appears pin spacing is either 1/32" or 0.8mm, which I've also confirmed by measurement to reduce parallax.


DRO connector 1


The following photo taken on a different angle shows there are two rows of pins although they are physically connected so it is a 4-pin connector. The overall outer dimensions of the protrusion that pushes into the socket is around 0.2" / 5.2mm wide by 0.12" / 3mm high, so a little smaller than a mini USB.


enter image description here


I'd prefer not to cut the cables and re-terminate so wondered if this is a standard connector type that anyone can identify?




Answer



I managed to identify the connector after exhaustive searching of various suppliers through all 0.8mm pitch connectors. It is a member of the Hirose MQ172X Series with the 4-pin SMT receptacle being a Hirose part number MQ172X-4PA. After locating the part number it is widely available from Element 14, Digikey, Mouser etc.


Rather than make a custom PCB for a one-off I've ordered a couple of DFN-8 to DIP-12 SMT adapters from Proto Advantage (part number IPC0065) that I'll cut in half to mount the connectors to.


No comments:

Post a Comment

arduino - Can I use TI's cc2541 BLE as micro controller to perform operations/ processing instead of ATmega328P AU to save cost?

I am using arduino pro mini (which contains Atmega328p AU ) along with cc2541(HM-10) to process and transfer data over BLE to smartphone. I...