BC11A paddle boards

[Guy Sotomayor]

I just received the first of the BC11A paddle boards (so that I can now create my own BC11A cables).  I made two variants of the boards.  One where the cables come out the “top” and another where the cables come out the “side” (so you don’t have to “fold” the cable in a number of different applications such as RK05s).

The ones that arrived today are the S or “side” variation (as opposed to the T or “top” variation).  I immediately noticed (why I didn’t see this when I was reviewing the board layout previously I’ll never know) is that one of the cable connectors is too close to the edge.  It wouldn’t be a problem except that I chose to use connectors that have cable retention latches.  The latches protrude from the board edge by ~0.02”.  So once I verify that these work, I’ll move the one connector inward ~0.5”.  I have plenty of space, I just don’t know why I put the connector that close to the edge.  *sigh*.  For these boards, I’ll probably just file the latch down a bit to get the appropriate clearance.

BTW, trying to get the connectors onto the board (I haven’t soldered them in yet) was tight.  That’s the problem with trying to get 60 pins to all line up correctly.  But they fit and are *snug*.  I probably won’t go and do any testing until I get the other boards in so it may be a couple more weeks (the boards weren’t supposed to *ship* before 2/8).

For those who’d like to know, I probably will not be making a production run of these boards unless I get a *lot* of interest (100 boards or so).  If you want some, let me know and if I get enough interest, I’ll do a production run.

TTFN - Guy