[sdiy] Module format

[Neil Johnson]

Hi,

As kind of partly to blame for this thread (Harry asked who made the 
mini modules... it was me)...

I did a quick sanity check on the choice of connector, the so-called 
industry-standard 30-pin SIMM socket.

Farnell - don't stock
Digikey - don't stock
Rapid   - don't stock
Maplin  - don't stock
Mouser  - don't stock
RS      - some lines stocked, but reducing, and only sell to trade 
accounts

As far as I can see, the only industry which standardised on these 
connectors in a big way is PC memory, and that moved away from 30-pin 
SIMMs a *long* time ago.  If you want to go with the SIMM format then 
it'd be better to go with 72-pin which is still actively available from 
a number of sources.

Me, I'm looking at half-size DIN41612 connectors for the re-engineering 
the mini modules.  They have plenty of pins (I'm going for 32), 
gold-plated if you feel the need, good mechanical support for boards, 
and so widely available I expect to see them still in production while 
enjoying a meal at Milliways.

Cheers,
Neil
--
Neil Johnson <http://www.njohnson.co.uk>