On 2011-01-09, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
Ignoramus12953 fired this volley in
:

Do you know what that tool looks like? In some categories, there is so
much stuff on digikey that I am lost

Ig (and Don, diagonally), you can - with proper strain reliefs - also use
solder-cup connectors. Soldered connections aren't appropriate where
vibration will disturb the wire/solder interface (fatiguing the joint,
and eventually breaking the wire), but those D-sub connectors CAN be
properly strain-relieved such that vibration will not affect the
terminations. They sell strain-relief shells in a number of
configurations. Additionally, the shells can be flooded with RTV after
being debugged and certified working properly. The appropriate shell
type is the sort cast in a complete "cup" shell with a screw-actuated
"slider" at the wire entry that pinches the wire tightly, as opposed to
the "clamshell" style hoods which only shield, but do not strain relieve
the connections.

If you use solder-cup connections, you can buy pre-made D-sub connectors
with all 9 or 25 pins already in place, and just use the ones you need.

Don't rule that out as a *very* inexpensive alternative to what you're
proposing.

Lloyd, for now, I used a tightly spaced terminal block from McMaster
and I hope that I am set (though I was not able to finish today to the
point of being able to test, maybe later).

For the future, though, I think that it is great to have the ability
to make D-sub connectors right, quickly and relatively inexpensively
(per each connector).

i