PCB scope probe tip adapter

[jan.didden]

Hi,

I was looking for a scope tip adapter for PCB mounting, which I found on a National evaluation board and which I found very handy for clean probing in high speed circuits.
See attachement.

But after a few hours Googling I still haven't found this one.
Both Tek and Keysight (aka Agilent aka HP) have similar but at $10 a shot for a pack of 10 or 25 seems excessive.
The ones on the pic are certainly less expensive - if you can find them.
Anybody has any pointers?

Jan

 

[rayma]

I was looking for a scope tip adapter for PCB mounting

There won't be a one-size-fits-all-probes adapter socket. We usually get these from the probe mfr directly.
They are essential for probing HF circuits, though.

 

[Kiriakos]

It might worth using BNC female connector soldered when is needed, and oscilloscope tip adapter to BNC.
Just a thought if your bandwidth is less than 400MHz

 

[jan.didden]

I was really looking for a very low cost solution to put in strategic places on a PCB just for testing, nothing fancy or expensive.

Jan

 

[prasimix]

One possibility is to simply "print" it if you are working with dual or multilayer PCB. In this case take care that diameter of tip and ground is properly selected to ensure good contact. Number of insertion is finite but it's possible to improve strength of the central hole with tiny rivet (i.e. Bossard 1217976).

 

[rayma]

One possibility is to simply "print" it if you are working with dual or multilayer PCB.

Some probes come with a very simple ground adapter that replaces the tip and ground wire. It consists of a small sleeve
with a bent spring wire to make ground contact, and would work well with such a footprint. Here's an example of this.
Don't worry about the price, many probes come with this kind of adapter. N2789A Spring Ground Tip for 10076B/C | Keysight (Agilent)

 

[Hearinspace]

Expensive!
Can't you just use a pin socket with a test point for ground? (I'd bet some more searching would find those shrouds for pennies . . . . . . somewhere.

 

[rayma]

Expensive!
Can't you just use a pin socket with a test point for ground? (I'd bet some more searching
would find those shrouds for pennies . . . . . . somewhere.

The problem is that most probes will require a different size adapter.

 

[Kiriakos]

I was really looking for a very low cost solution to put in strategic places on a PCB just for testing, nothing fancy or expensive.

Jan

As long you are not talking for mass production, you may use plain wire forming half circle like every one else does.
And the size of this jumper wire will be enough, so the hook clip to get attached to it.

Alternatively you may use a soldered pin small in length.