Connectors — the catalog vocabulary
Connector entries are the catalog records in which every package, adapter and headstage names its probe side and DAQ side, so that whether a chain connects is answered from the records rather than from drawings.
A package terminates in a connector, a headstage accepts one, and an adapter turns one into another; once every record names its connectors in the same tokens, compatibility is a query. The families in the catalog: Omnetics 12-, 16-, 32- and 64-pin at 0.635 mm pitch, and non-magnetic MRI Omnetics 16, 32 and 42-pin; Mill-Max DIP-16 at 2.54 mm; Samtec 40-pin, 50-pin (the SiNAPS ribbon cable) and 8-pin edge; Hirose 16/32 and 64 for ZIF-Clip; Molex X3 (34 pins at 0.3556 mm) and Panasonic 96 on X-Series packages; Molex 34-pin board-to-board on the EIB; CQ4 on Q-Trode; NeuroNexus M1P 16 and 32; HDMI and micro-HDMI between headstage and DAQ; and the Neuropixels J2 dock and XDAQ NP port.
Pitch decides handling. Omnetics at 0.635 mm and DIP at 2.54 mm differ four-fold, which is why a DIP header can be hand-soldered and an Omnetics nano-strip cannot, and why the two tolerate different mating force in surgery. Which headstage mates each connector family without an adapter is under probe package, and the transitions between families under adapters. An entry has connector_id, family, pin count, pitch and gender where each is known; an absent field means unrecorded, not zero.
Typical values
| Families | Omnetics, MRI Omnetics, DIP, Samtec, Hirose, Molex X3, Panasonic 96, Molex 34, CQ4, M1P, HDMI/micro-HDMI, Neuropixels J2 |
|---|---|
| Pitch | Omnetics 0.635 mm · DIP 2.54 mm · X3 and Panasonic 0.3556 mm |
| Fields | connector_id, family, pins, pitch, gender |