Greyhawk writes --

 

<<Spacecraft just don't shake like a four-cylinder engine.>>

 

Actually, it is much, much worse.  Not on orbit, of course, but on the rocket ride up there.  I have witnessed vibration testing to the spectrum which these things are qualified -- it makes our prehistoric 4-bangers seem as smooth as turbines.  Roll your stereo down a long flight of stairs and you'll begin to get a feeling for what spacecraft have to survive.

 

I asked the electronics guys at work (Aviation Technology Group, makers of the Javelin Jet) which connectors I should use.  They (very apologetically) told me that the MS38999 connectors were the only way to go.  They know these are the expensive ones -- these guys used to work on kitplanes as well and know where we're coming from.  They told me that I was going to be spending a pile of money on connectors but that it would be money well spent for reliability.

 

It's basically the same thing that Brent is saying -- cheap connectors are false economy.  Use the good ones, and you'll be paying so much for them that you'll only install them where you really need them.

 

I do not know if MS38999 connectors (known as "thirty-eight triple-nine" connectors) are the same connectors as the AMP Circular Plastic Connectors that Brent recommends.

 

- Rob Wolf