There wasn't much advice to be had on making modern connectors that
interoperate with the header-like connectors used by IBM SLT cards, so I
did my best to come up with some on my own. This design appears to be
functional, but I've only ohmed it out so far, not put it to any kind of
extended use:
The hard part now will be getting my hands on 18 AWG flat ribbon cable that
doesn't cost a fortune.
Anyhow, I hope this might be of use to some folks out there.
--Tom
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 1:21 PM Tom Stepleton <stepleton at gmail.com> wrote:
Hi cctalk,
I'm looking to replicate the 24-contact connector system that IBM used on
SLT and MST cards for many years. Has anyone done this before?
The best photos of this connector that I can find online are on this page:
http://techandtrouble.blogspot.com/2014/04/happy-50th-system360-pt5-anatomy…
I haven't searched Bitsavers documentation extensively for IBM
specifications, but I've seen some details around page 54 of this document:
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/logic/SY22-2798-2_LogicBlocks_AutomatedLog…
I'm interested in reproducing both polarities of this connector: plug and
socket. Also, even though the most familiar use of this connector is for
board-to-board interconnect, I'm most interested in wire-to-board
interconnect. IBM used this method for DC power connectors in its 5100,
5110, and 5120 computers. Here are images of this specific connector:
http://stepleton.com/connector/
taken as still images from a YouTube video on the IBM 5120 by Jerry Walker
(
https://www.youtube.com/c/JerryWalker-JMPrecision/videos).
I've designed and built a device that monitors DC power supply voltages
for overvoltage and undervoltage excursions and cuts off all power rails if
any voltage goes out of spec. I hope to use it to protect my own IBM 5100
from major power supply faults like the one CuriousMarc encountered with
his 9825T:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-eN93L6yX8
In order to put my device between my 5100's power supply and the logic
card backplane, I need to recreate a plug and a socket so that I can
fashion a cable that goes out to my device. If anyone has created
dependable modern versions of these connectors, would you mind sharing any
pointers?
Thanks for any help,
--Tom