[ARC5] 4 pin to 7/9 adapter update

[Ben Hall]

Afternoon all,

Been a productive weekend.  I modified the design a bit so that one 
board design could accommodate both a 7-pin and a 9-pin mini socket.

<http://www.kd5byb.net/BC230/7and9.jpg>

The design now has the pins soldered to the PC board, which should be 
better in the long run compared to superglue.

I built a jig for cutting the brass tube "pins" to length and built a 
second jig to hold the pins in alignment while the PC board is soldered 
in place.

I have a design almost complete that will allow a short-run board house 
to manufacture the PC board portion.  Installation of the pins will 
still be a hands-on operation, but at least I'm not etching the boards 
by hand!  ;)

The commercial PCB will also have dedicated pads for attaching wires, 
unlike the current prototype where one would have to solder to the pins, 
which might throw off their alignment.

Fabricating the brass "pins" is a rather slow operation.  I've got two 
drawings off to a short-run manufacturer to see if they can build the 
pins for a price point that beats me using a hack saw and hand files.  ;)

thanks much and 73,
ben, kd5byb