Homebrew PCBs

In a message dated 6/16/2004 3:50:21 PM Central Standard Time, 
stefan_trethan@... writes:
thank god i have no idea whatsoever what you are talking about with those
socket strips - i assume that must mean i'm still rather young 

No, ST, it just means some "inventive" ol' boy somewhere here in the USA 
figured out a cheap way to make IC-sockets of ANY pin-count fast and useable by 
ANYone.  Sadly, TWO things:  They are hard to FIND, now, and they have only Tin 
plating (BEFORE forming!  UGH!).  

Yeah, I used them to build kits in the early-'70's.  The stuff came in a 
continuous length (max. 1 meter?  I don't know), and one could clip off 14 or 16 
pins, slip the "tabs" through the PCB, solder, and then "break off" the strip 
on the top that was still attached by perhaps 0.5 mm of metal to each "clip".  
Then repeat for the "other side", and you had an IC-socket, each pin 
mechanically totally separate from the others (no plastic "header").  It "worked", but 
I would not want to be on an aircraft that used them in the avionics, no!  

Now, as "IC-electronics" has advanced to such an extent, there are ALL kinds 
of IC-sockets available for even LESS money per-pin, and any from 8-pin to 
64-pin "DIP" sockets, "machined", spring, tin, and gold are available mail-order. 
 Lucky for me, there is a vendor here which carries just about ALL kinds of 
sockets (and all other parts!) of every kind, so if I just-MUST have some 
particular socket, it's ony a 20 kM drive.  (I try to "stock up", of course, as the 
drive would not be economical if done weekly just for €1,- worth!)

Sie schrieben sehr gut idiomatisch Englisch!  Gratuliere!  

Regards!         Jan Rowland


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