looking for SMD headers that would work for the MSO USB-C Digital Probe, preferably shrouded/keyed
seem it needs a header with round pins rather than standard rectangular.
Hi @janny-bb,
Most, but not all, standard headers will fit the Logic MSO Digital Probe connectors. Square pins work fine, and we’ve designed connectors into several of our PCBs for this purpose.
The main things you’re looking for are:
- 2x5 pins (10 total positions)
- 0.1" pitch (both row and column spacing)
- fully shrouded
- keying slot
These are pretty standard filters on DigiKey and similar websites. On top of these, you should check the drawing to ensure that the inside dimensions of the shroud are at least 17.3mm x 6mm. The horizontal dimension in particular does not appear to be standardized as well as the other dimensions of these connectors.
For example, the inside dimensions of this surface mount connector are ideal, 18mm x 6.3mm.
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/cnc-tech/3020-10-0300-00/3441727
If you like, I can dig up the part number of the through-hole right angle connectors I used for our last internal tester PCB. I don’t have the BOM handy at the moment but I could dig it up early next week if that would help.
@markgarrison Just this week I wrote the same question to your support crew and they pointed me to this thread.
I’m happy to hear you approve of the square pins, but I’m still a little worried. Won’t using the square pins (which are usually around 0.025” x 0.025” square - but 0.036” diagonally across) ream the holes open, potentially making future connections to the round pins less reliable? I’m not sure what the inside of those round sockets look like, but I’ve read that machine pin socket manufacturers specifically advise against mating with square post pins.
I started to try to insert a square pin in the round hole, but the resistance was a little too high for comfort for me… and those lovely digital probes are not cheap to replace.
Am I just being too cautious?
PS while I’m here, I’m absolutely IN LOVE with the MSO. So much attention to detail in its design, and the software, of course, the software. Just wow!
HI @jrjr,
We designed the probe with this specific application in mind, with the goal of making it as easy as possible to design a connector into your device for this.
It does take more force than a typical header connection. I’ve just compared connecting some standard female headers to to standard male pins, with the same male pins and my logic analyzer probes.
This should not damage the connector on the probe, and if you do have any problems with it, please let us know and we can replace it for you under warranty.
Here are some photos of our setups using these connectors. The second image shows a board where i have cycled these connections a few dozen times through normal use, and I haven’t had any issues.
