Ribbon cable connector help needed

[Kazoo]

I'm trying to make a 16 position ribbon cable for my BugTrap 2074a. I need the connector that goes onto the IC Clip. See pics attached of a 20 wire version. The seem to be slightly offset, and only connect with half of the wires. I guess you put two on, oriented 180 degrees from each other to get all 16 wires connected to the clip. Anyone have a source for these oddball connectors? I circled in yellow to show the offset.

thanks!

[Kazoo]

oops - new here, didn't get the rest of the attachments in the first posting. Here they are.

[Chris-socal]

One set of the pierce pins is for the top row and one set is for the bottom row, they are offset inside the connector housing. I think you are only seeing one set of the pierce pins through the hole.

[Kazoo]

No, I removed the connector from the top of the clip and confirmed it has only 10 pins. That makes sense since it’s a 20 pin IC Clip and 10 are in each side.

So for my 16 wire cable, I need a single row 16-pin-wide connector but with only 8 piercing pins.  Every other wire.  And they are slight offset by one wire so you can install inverted to get the other wires.

I just can’t find them anywhere.  DigiKey suggested using two regular 2-row connectors and just epoxying closed one row on each so I don’t accidentally use it. I’d much prefer to find the correct part. 

Thanks for the reply though!

[Chris-socal]

I see now. They used two single-row connectors with double spacing and you are looking for that connector. Wow, that's something that will come from somebodies drawer...if you are lucky. Does that make them 5.08 spacing?

[Kazoo]

Yep, you got it.  I’m hoping they are still made. Fingers crossed someone knows. 

I even thought about taking a 2 row to the belt sander and removing the second row but that wouldn’t leave me a way to clamp the top retaining strap on. 

Maybe a 16 single row and take out half the pins?   lol

Not sure if it changes the spacing but you reminded me that was a thought I had at night.  Maybe I can search  on that to find them somewhere. 

[jay]

What about the OEM that made the device.

[Chris-socal]

Yeah, if the vendor is still around they might be able to point you in the right direction!

You could try a hybrid of suggestions. Get a double row connector, do something like the vendor said and only use one row. Personally I would fill the un-used holes with Bondik, epoxy or super glue. That way there is no risk if the wrong row getting used. If you do it nice and clean you probably won't even know.

[Kazoo]

What about the OEM that made the device.

AP Products was out of Germany. They seem to be gone. 3M has exactly the same part numbers so I feel that 3M bought them. I've searched vendors for the available 3M part numbers I could find, nobody has them anymore. I may try 3M direct tomorrow.,

[shortrackskater]

Reply #6 from this forum, the member states he's going to be making clones of the bugtrap "soon," but this post is from 2021. Maybe you could contact him?
https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/wtb-bugtrap-2074a-logic-comparator.492687/

For those reading that may not know what this is (like me) I'm adding a photo from a sold eBay listing. Funny even in his listing, the seller states:

BUGTRAP 2074 A Logic Comparator 20 pin connector only. Includes that wierd 3M clip. The BugTrap is a chip comparator. It is used to compare a good chip to the test chip. The red & black test leads clip to voltage source +5 & GND, indicator lights.

[Kazoo]

I found a company called Samtec who seem to make part IDS-16-G which is a single row 16 wide connector.  They are sending me a couple samples to see if it’ll work.  I’ll post back when I get them ….

[Kazoo]

The 16 pin is too wide ... which makes sense as these are referencing the number of connections they make to the ribbon cable. But the IDS-08-G is exactly what I needed! It's slightly offset to one side and is as wide as 16 wires. Yet, it connects to every other pin. The other side of it is compatible with the top of the IC clip I have. So I have my solution.

Here is a link to the part, though Samtec sent me a sample so I didn't actually order from here.
https://canada.newark.com/samtec/ids-08-g/connector-rcpt-8pos-1row-2-54mm/dp/85T4700

A+ for Samtec support. They were great and got me exactly what I needed. I can now build my Bugtrap 16 pin cable to go with the 20 pin cable that came with this.

BTW: The comment above which mentions the eBay purchase is the actual one I bought. These don't come up very often and seem to be better than the HP 10529As so I took a chance on it. I'll give it a workout when I get my bench back together and start board repairs again in the Fall. the "weird connector" is just a different 3M chip clip that isn't used for the Bugtrap.