Some of the things that we Enterprise users most miss on our computers are good connectors. I'm not talking about the Expansion bus at the right side, or the cartridge bus, I understand why they where selected to be edge connectors.

But it is a pain to have that type of connector for the RGB, Serial, Parallel and Controllers ports.  If the user is handy he can make them itself by sawing a larger connector to fit, but then they have to be soldered to the leads, and this is more difficult.

But the worst it to make the connectors usable, I mean, they have to be easy to plug and unplug. The best is to glue the bottom face of the connector to a piece of printed circuit  and fix the cable to it with a plastic tie.

These solutions are far from perfect, usually the leads get broken and need to be re-soldered.

But now that I have the original Enterprise Mouse in my hands I can admire the strange beauty of its original connector....

But this isn't a new idea of me. The same Actec company used this cheaper approach on its Speakeasy box. Observe how the claws of the trimmed D-sub housing don't get to grab the edge connector channel. Maybe heating the claws with a lighter and bending them a little, the connector can be held on place.

But for me the best connectors are those included on Werner Lindner's colection (technical director of ENTERPRISE Computers GmbH).

The housings consist of two simple halves, not the three complicated parts that the Patkány connector has. Also the shape is simpler, squared with lateral channels, filling completely the port hole. The edge connector is also hold in place by a claw on both housing halves, but not visible once mounted.

I can't see the way how the two halves are joined.





I would like to have samples of those connectors to clone them with a 3D printer, but I think it would not be difficult to know the measures, after all we have the computers to test.

Very good idea! You also can use some of the Araldite glue to mould the sides.

I will search for a variety of D-sub housings to build better connectors for my equipment.

Yes, very good looking. At that blue light they are like Tron paraphernalia!


Observe the dimensions, they look big!

 

Unused cases for Seriel/Net:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Unused cases for Seriel/Net:
(Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

Are they yours?

How are the two halves tied one to other?

I see that the ringed tube fits with a twist on the cilindrical tail, but one of the halves has an open slot.

Glued?

Is this a German or an original English design?

The drawing are the original English.

The unused connector cases, I don't know it is are German or Hungarian. (It is found in MICROTEAM basement )
We bought serial cable about 27 years ago and it is have a same connector. As I remember the two half are glued and the ringed tube make it stronger. (We dismantled the cable for modify it to NET: connection).

Who designed the Patkány connector? probably Aztec independently, I gess...

I also guess it.