A Few Tips for Deciphering Pogo Pin Reference Sheets

We like pogo pins here at Adafruit. We use them in our prototyping and development, sell them in our shop (along with our toggle clamps), and even teach others how to make their own test jig using them. They can seem bewildering at first – their operation looks like this – but once you get accustomed to using them you’ll understand how much time they save. Still, deciphering reference sheets can be daunting, especially if things are in a foreign language you don’t understand (and the image resolution is so low you can’t translate it via an optical app). Thankfully Ed from The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning has some tips on deciphering pogo pin reference sheets:

A Pogo Pin reference may be useful:

P.. and R.. refer to Pin and Receptacle (a.k.a. socket), respectively
Pxx and Rxx = nominal pin diameter in 0.01 mm units: P50 = 0.48 mm
For pins, the suffix -hn indicates pin head shape, the most useful of which may be:

  • B1: 45° cone
  • J1: dome end
  • Dx: large dome, also 1D
  • Gx: cylinder
  • Ex: large 90° cone, sometimes 1E
  • T2 – large chisel

For sockets, the suffix -ntl gives:

  • n – entry shape: 1 = shaped entry, 2 = straight entry
  • t – termination: C = crimp, S = solder, W = wire
  • l – length of wire in 100 mm units: 7 = 700 mm

If you still have more questions than answers that’s a good thing – it means you’re curious and attempting to further make sense of this crucial piece of test equipment!

Read more here, and also here.



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