[GreenKeys] HAL ST-8000A

[Ron Ott]

Regarding the 'non-standard' military connectors on the back of the HAL 
ST-8000A, I would be interested in what steps you folks have taken to make 
your ST-8000A more connection friendly.


Richard, the connectors on the ST-8000A are mil standards, but simply rare. To solve the rare connector problem, I simply removed the blank plate next to the odd-ball connector and installed a more standard Cannon connector pair I had in the junk box.  Inside the ST-8000A, HAL used IDCs (insulation displacement connectors) for the headers.  You can find these IDCs pretty easily too, and now you can connect the new Cannon connector to the board headers.  To determine which header connector and pins are important, simply reverse engineer the odd-ball connector -- if you have a pinout for it.
In my experience, the ST-8000A doesn't hold a candle to the HAL ST-8000, but it's a very different design that was engineered to be a fit, form and functional replacement for the Frederick 1280 modem (as specified by the USAF), which has similar performance.  If I remember correctly, HAL had to use particular ICs in the 8000A to meet AF flight specs, which lead to it's different design and more limited performance.
Ron
W6XY