The $11185 Connector • Hacker News Board

Re: The $11185 Connector

#11

Post by Animats » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:30 AM UTC

daeken wrote: post #7

I'd strongly recommend looking into 3d printing these. You could pretty easily 3d print a plastic version of the connector itself (and shell, if male), then add aluminum tape to the inside if you need EMF protection. Then you just pop in pins (which you can get at Fry's by the hundred for a couple bucks), and you have a finished connector. A few hundred dollars in setup and you're done, with a unit cost of under a do…

None of the low-end 3D printers could hold the tolerances needed. Even a Form 1 isn't that precise.

Connector tolerances are very tight. That's why intermittent electrical connections are mostly a thing of the past.

Re: The $11185 Connector

#12

Post by raldi » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:30 AM UTC

Good story, but I flagged it for the misleading title. Perhaps a less sensational one would be, "Making new DB-19 cables is expensive."

Re: The $11185 Connector

#13

Post by userbinator » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:32 AM UTC

A quick search suggests that they're still made:

http://www.connectworld.net/cgi-bin/rrdata/DB19FS (female)

http://www.connectworld.net/cgi-bin/rrdata/DB19MS (male)

Re: The $11185 Connector

#14

Post by largote » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:32 AM UTC

Do you need to support older hardware? Or is there a particular reason you can't use DB-25 and just use 19 pins?

Re: The $11185 Connector

#15

Post by cellshade » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:36 AM UTC

Alupis wrote: post #8

The title is very misleading... it's not an $11,185 connector, that's the price of setting up custom tooling for this component. After-which the factory quoted a very reasonable $0.13 per piece. The author went into this stating he'd be willing to pay for their tooling... then is sticker-shocked when they quote him for so. It's like the author went into this thinking they'd pay a few hundred bucks (for the custom too…

Since you seem to be familiar with this sort of thing, what is the best way to find a fab if not going to Alibaba?

Re: The $11185 Connector

#16

Post by recibe » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:38 AM UTC

The Chinese are tired of being paid a fraction of what citizens in developed countries make for doing the same work.

This is a blog about how a citizen in a developed country is "shocked" at the concept that other people should be paid a fair wage even if - gasp - they're Chinese.

Re: The $11185 Connector

#17

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:45 AM UTC

largote wrote: post #14

Do you need to support older hardware? Or is there a particular reason you can't use DB-25 and just use 19 pins?

[deleted]

Re: The $11185 Connector

#18

Post by Alupis » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:45 AM UTC

cellshade wrote: post #15

Alupis wrote: post #8

The title is very misleading... it's not an $11,185 connector, that's the price of setting up custom tooling for this component. After-which the factory quoted a very reasonable $0.13 per piece. The author went into this stating he'd be willing to pay for their tooling... then is sticker-shocked when they quote him for so. It's like the author went into this thinking they'd pay a few hundred bucks (for the custom too…

Since you seem to be familiar with this sort of thing, what is the best way to find a fab if not going to Alibaba?

There is no specific place to go to... a lot of it simply comes from working within the industry and learning the key players. My company doesn't buy/sell electronics, but the factories operate more-or-less the same.

Going to Alibaba is like shopping on Amazon. You wouldn't go to Amazon to purchase bulk (> 10,000) pieces of some item... you certainly aren't getting the best deal. Amazon takes a cut (so does Alibaba), and retailers listing there have catered their prices towards end-users (so significant mark-ups).

If it were me, I'd post on electrical engineering forums and ask who people recommend for fab jobs. Sometimes a nice supplier/distributor will tell you who they use for fab jobs (but a lot do tend to guard this).

Alibaba just isn't the best way to get the best price...

Re: The $11185 Connector

#19

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 1:45 AM UTC

cellshade wrote: post #15

Alupis wrote: post #8

The title is very misleading... it's not an $11,185 connector, that's the price of setting up custom tooling for this component. After-which the factory quoted a very reasonable $0.13 per piece. The author went into this stating he'd be willing to pay for their tooling... then is sticker-shocked when they quote him for so. It's like the author went into this thinking they'd pay a few hundred bucks (for the custom too…

Since you seem to be familiar with this sort of thing, what is the best way to find a fab if not going to Alibaba?

[deleted]

Re: The $11185 Connector

#20

Post by to3m » Sat, Feb 07, 2015, 2:00 AM UTC

recibe wrote: post #16

The Chinese are tired of being paid a fraction of what citizens in developed countries make for doing the same work. This is a blog about how a citizen in a developed country is "shocked" at the concept that other people should be paid a fair wage even if - gasp - they're Chinese.

The phrase "shocked" doesn't occur in the post, so I'm not sure where that term comes from. He does say that the quoted figure is more expensive than he hoped for, which is reasonable, since he goes on to present a number of quick calculations suggesting he can't justify purchasing them at that price.