hg_man
Well-known member
Hey, folks,
I'm designing a custom pre-amp/mixer that fits inside a hurdy-gurdy. (Yes, really.) In the past I've just taken apart a commercially available unit and modified it to fit where it needs to go, but now I need to add some more channels and make it all work together.
I'm facing two design challenges that I'm hoping you all can help me to address: shielding and interconnection.
I have three boards that need to be connected to each other and to the inputs, outputs, and controls. These boards are inside the body and keybox of an acoustic instrument, so shielding is a potential problem. Is there something I can wrap them with? (Giant shielding shrink-tubing comes to mind, but there's no such animal as far as I know.) I know there's the shielding paint available, but it's an acoustic instrument and I'm loath to slather the inside of the body with a heavy metallic paint. How much metal do I need to have between the outside world and the board to protect the board, and how big of a hole can I afford in this shield?
On the intereconnection front: In the past I've simply soldered the wires to the board, but moving it around for testing and installation has broken the wires off, so I'm looking for another solution.
Ideally I would like to have the wires that run between the boards shielded also, yes? I've found some connectors that look as if they should work, either Molex C-grid or AMP MTA 0.100 series or some such (I think - I left my notes at home).
First interconnection problem: can I run a multi-conductor shielded cable from these little connectors by just connecting the shield to one or more of the pins? Or is there a better way to do this?
Second interconnection problem: both Molex and AMP sell a crimper for these connectors, for about $170. I was shocked until I found similar systems where the crimper was almost a thousand dollars. Do I need the crimper? I'm willing to get it if that's what I have to have to get the job done, but I don't want to just commit that much for something that I don't know will work. There's a cheaper Molex crimper - $50 - will that work?
I'm not trying to be cheap: I know the value of a good tool. I'm just asking if this is the RIGHT good tool.
I look forward to your replies,
Alden
I'm designing a custom pre-amp/mixer that fits inside a hurdy-gurdy. (Yes, really.) In the past I've just taken apart a commercially available unit and modified it to fit where it needs to go, but now I need to add some more channels and make it all work together.
I'm facing two design challenges that I'm hoping you all can help me to address: shielding and interconnection.
I have three boards that need to be connected to each other and to the inputs, outputs, and controls. These boards are inside the body and keybox of an acoustic instrument, so shielding is a potential problem. Is there something I can wrap them with? (Giant shielding shrink-tubing comes to mind, but there's no such animal as far as I know.) I know there's the shielding paint available, but it's an acoustic instrument and I'm loath to slather the inside of the body with a heavy metallic paint. How much metal do I need to have between the outside world and the board to protect the board, and how big of a hole can I afford in this shield?
On the intereconnection front: In the past I've simply soldered the wires to the board, but moving it around for testing and installation has broken the wires off, so I'm looking for another solution.
Ideally I would like to have the wires that run between the boards shielded also, yes? I've found some connectors that look as if they should work, either Molex C-grid or AMP MTA 0.100 series or some such (I think - I left my notes at home).
First interconnection problem: can I run a multi-conductor shielded cable from these little connectors by just connecting the shield to one or more of the pins? Or is there a better way to do this?
Second interconnection problem: both Molex and AMP sell a crimper for these connectors, for about $170. I was shocked until I found similar systems where the crimper was almost a thousand dollars. Do I need the crimper? I'm willing to get it if that's what I have to have to get the job done, but I don't want to just commit that much for something that I don't know will work. There's a cheaper Molex crimper - $50 - will that work?
I'm not trying to be cheap: I know the value of a good tool. I'm just asking if this is the RIGHT good tool.
I look forward to your replies,
Alden