IDC ribbon cable with strain relief (the "fold the cable through=
 and
secure" type as found on the better IDE disk drive cables), mated=
 to a
female socket with "locking ears" on the PCB.

I've had these assemblies tested on shaker tables for 1000's of=
 hours
with no failures and used them in NASA flight tested and=
 certified
systems (actually have some on the ISS as we speak!) as well as
industrial equipment in Nuclear and Hydroelectric power plants.=
 Very
reliable and not all that expensive.

The key is a good quality connector and proper cable termination=
 and
assembly. Follow the manufacturer's guidelines and you'll get a=
 very
reliable connection even with lots of cable flex.

Any cable connection directly to a PCB (i.e. a mechanically=
 "hard"
joint) that is subject to flex and vibration is bad karma. It's=
 going
to fail due to metal fatigue at the attachment points, it's just=
 a
matter a time.

Matt Pobursky
Maximum Performance Systems

On Fri, 26 Jul 2002 14:56:25 -0700, Brendan Moran wrote:=
 -----BEGIN PGP
SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

What is the best solution for connecting a ribbon cable to a PCB=
 in an
environment that will demand flex in the ribbon cable? =A0The=
 extant
problem is the likelyhood that the ribbon cable will tear out of=
 the
PCB over time.

Thanks,

- --Brendan

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic:
[PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads