Our 'Send-a-Connector program' is useful when one of our standard cable testing adapters will not work for your custom application. If you don't see the cable or harness test adapter you need on our Standard Adapter Page, send us the connector you need mounted on your cable test fixture and we'll develop a solution using one of the approaches illustrated below. Standard 'customs' are generally deliverable within ten working days from the time we have your approval of design and the P.O. number. Call today, we'll work with you to decide which cable testing fixture will work best for your application. 1-800-441-9910.
Frame-Stand Adapters
A Frame Stand attaches to the top of your Cirris cable tester in place of the "cover plates". Special mounting plates (on the top) hold your test connectors in position. Your connectors can be arranged on the frame stand board in any relative position you wish. In this case, the cable test connectors are connected to the tester via cables that plug into our standard AHED-64 adapter boards (must be ordered separately). For this approach to work well the connectors need mounting flanges or mounting rings on the connector bodies so they can be attached securely to the board. More information on testing cables with the frame stand concept
Box Adapter
The Box Adapter approach is a box built on a standard adapter PCB. We make a special mounting plate to hold your cable test connectors which are wired directly to the PCB below. The mounting plate is secured to the top of the box. The 'Box Adapter' allows a "double high" adapter to hold several small connectors. You can specify the relative positions of the test connectors. This option is great for testing very short cables or harnesses. To secure the cable test connectors to the plate we require mounting flanges or mounting rings on each test connectors used. The total number of test points (all mounted connectors) cannot exceed 28 points for a single high adapter, 64 points for a double high adapter, or 120 for a quad high adapter.
Clamp Adapter
Clamp Adapters are an ideal solution for cable test connectors without mounting flanges or rings. They can hold a wide variety of connectors (round, rectangular, odd shapes). The test connector is clamped with screw presure and the test connector is wired directly to the PCB below. You can easily replace the connector if/when it wears out. Connectors with up to 28 contacts use a single high adapter. Connectors with up to 64 contacts use a double high adapter. More Information on Clamp Adapters
Pigtail Adapters
Pigtail adapters are constructed with the connector wired directly to the PCB. The customer can specify the length of cable to be used. With the development of the Clamp Adapter approach we generally recommend using the clamp adapter method over the pigtail method because it provides much better protection for the connector and the associated wiring. If the connector is a large one and will not work with the Clamp Adapter method or for situations where your fixturing needs to be flexible the Pigtail approach is still a workable approach.
Standard Footprint Adapter
If the connector you desire to test with is PCB-mountable and has a footprint that will mate with one of our standard printed circuit boards, then we will most likely have a low-cost test fixture solution for you!
Universal Vertical Board
This board was developed to allow small, surface mount connectors to be attached to the vertical board. It is laid out in such a way as to allow it to be cut off at the footprint required. This one board can accommodate 10 different connector footprints.
Extension Cables with Assorted Interface Options
Extension or Interface Cables are any type of cable arrangement where one end either mates directly to the tester (as in the case of the CH+) or into a Cirris adapter. The other end of the assembly has a connector, pogo pin box, or any other kind of interface arrangement wherein the part being tested can be attached. NOTE: Long extension Cables increase the resistance and capacitance of the interface wires. You may need to adjust your test parameters to compensate for extreme length.
