[sdiy] 16pin dip header -- mild warning

[greg montalbano]

Thought this might be a good place to point out that, as they age,
DIP connectors can be the source of deteriorating performance;  of the 
synths I've serviced over the years, the number two cause of intermittent
or total failure of one or several features has been traced to the DIP headers.
Like any contacts, these will oxidize over time;  and they can add stray 
capacitance to critical lines at all the wrong times.
(Some machines, like the Siel DK600, have a total of several HUNDRED point 
-to-point connections in the form of DIP cables;  frequently, my service of 
such machines has simply been cleaning/deoxing all the plugs & sockets).

Not saying they shouldn't be used;  they ARE damned convenient.  Just 
pointing out a possible problem, down the road...

~GMM


At 07:54 AM 1/9/03 -0800, you wrote:

>--- mark verbos <a0284520 at addcom.de> wrote:
> >
> >The Wiard and some Buchla modules use these. Much
> >nicer than spagetti. (well
> >not as tastie probably!)
>
>Thanks, I appreciated everybody's input.  The Emu
>modular also used dip headers/sockets/ribbon cable for
>power distribution using a bus configuration.  I use
>them for power distribution as well, but, in a
>hub/spoke configuration.
>
>Thanks again,
>Ethan
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
>http://mailplus.yahoo.com