A connector can have one, two or three rows of contacts, which are labelled as rows a, b and c. Two row connectors may use rows a+b or rows a+c. The connectors may have 16 or 32 columns, which means that the possible permutations allow 16, 32, 48, 64 or 96 contacts. The rows and columns are on a 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) grid pitch. [ref wikipedia]. Connectors can also be straight or right-angled.
Manufactures offer many different types of 41612 which can make finding a socket and plug combination that match frustrating on the big electronic parts websites.
I eventually found the following 64 way, a+b, 2.54mm, B shell sockets and plugs at toby.co.uk which appear great value.
| Part No | Quantity | Price | ||
| B shell 2 row sockets | ||||
| 405AF-64FSSAAB4 | 10 | £9.50 | ||
| B shell 2 row plugs | ||||
| 405AF-64MSRAAE4 | 10 | £7.50 | ||
The data sheet gave the following physical sizing for the right angled B shell plugs
- Distance between screw centres = 88.90 (~3.5 inch)
- Length = 94mm (~3.7 inch)
and the following for the vertical B shell sockets
- Distance between screw centre = 90mm (~5.55 inch)
- Length = 95 mm (~3.7 inch)
