OT - any microelectronics boffins around?

mcj78

Strange one for commuting chat, however I can't think of where else to put it (at least on a bike forum anyway!)

Anyway - the touchscreen on my HTC phone stopped working properly so I eventually replaced it with the help of some some patience & swearing - not enough however as my sausage fingers managed to break one of the connectors which turned out to be a tiny coaxial cable which apparently serves as the antenna for gsm, 3g connection etc. etc. etc. :evil:

I've found out it's apparently an ultra-miniature-coaxial-cable (UMCC) around 2cm long, but I can't find anywhere in the UK that stocks them - well, I did but they're far too long to fit inside the casing & they're nigh on impossible to cut down due to size (already tried to repair the old one, worked just long enough to get my hopes up, then conked out again)

Does anyone have a drawer full of these things somewhere or know where I can get one? They probably cost pennies but can only be bought in multiples of 1000s or something, help!

Cheers,
John

*edit*
They look like this, except much much smaller!

davis

Do you have a size of the connector you want? It looks awfully similar to the internal connectors used by wifi cards in laptops...

mudcow007

davis wrote:

Do you have a size of the connector you want? It looks awfully similar to the internal connectors used by wifi cards in laptops...

+1

arn't they called "ipex" connectors?

Click

optimisticbiker

mudcow007 wrote:

davis wrote:

Do you have a size of the connector you want? It looks awfully similar to the internal connectors used by wifi cards in laptops...

+1

arn't they called "ipex" connectors?

Click

No, they're MHF (micro high frequency) connectors, made by IPEX, Hirose, Sunridge, Murata and others. There's at least 4 different sizes and because of the difficulties of assembly are usually preassembled at the factory onto a cable assembly of a given length. Finding a supplier of a single cable is going to be tricky. HTC may make spares available to authorised repair agents but are unlikely to supply the general public.

OP - what phone? Whats on the other end of the cable, how long is it and any idea which size of connector? And you're right, they're about £3 - £5 in one off (and you can buy one-offs in popular lengths like 50mm and 100mm)

FoldingJoe

Sometimes you can pick up faulty ones on eBay fairly cheap. Not £3-£5 range but still might be worth a look.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HTC-Desire-Spares-or-repair-faulty-/230786401159?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item35bbf10387#ht_500wt_1202

gtvlusso

Does Maplin or RS not do these?

optimisticbiker

gtvlusso wrote:

Does Maplin or RS not do these?

Maplin, no, too specialist.

Both RS and Farnell do some MHF cable assemblies but they're the standard 50/100/200mm jobs.

mcj78

Hey all, cheers for the replies - currently trying to sort out photos (i'll need to dismantle the phone to remove the offending cable first!) The phone itself is an old HTC Legend - not the most flash however it's small & it's metal & up 'till now has taken a fair bit of abuse & no complaints, i've become quite fond of it tbh!

Here's the bugger:




You can see the end i've tried to repair - don't think a repair on it's feasible tbh, there's a maplin not far from me - can take it there & see if they stock anything similar - or could try a local mobile repair place who might have all sorts of bits from phones they've broken for parts lying around.

*edit - just seen the post re. maplin being unlikely to stock them, if anyone can positively identify the beast i can try Farnell... found this on Digikey - does it look right? http://www.digikey.co.uk/product-detail/en/W.FL-2LPG-062N2D-A-%2835%29/H11561-ND/1756068

Cheers all!

optimisticbiker

Apart from the fact its too long (35mm) and yours is a female to female and thats male to male... but it could equally be something like this one

You can't order these by eye, you need to know the right spec, or get the right part from the manufacturer or a third party HTC spares supplier.

mcj78

OptimisticBiker wrote:

Apart from the fact its too long (35mm) and yours is a female to female and thats male to male... but it could equally be something like this one

You can't order these by eye, you need to know the right spec, or get the right part from the manufacturer or a third party HTC spares supplier.

haha - maybe that would have caused a problem upon fitting :oops:

Anyhoo - to update, a bit more google-fu led me to a site by the name of www.parts4repair.com who seem to break down all models of phones & sell these annoying proprietary tiny parts individually, can get a replacement including shipping (from Singapore) for £4.62 which isn't too bad - gonna give them a go & see if that solves it!

Cheers for the helpful advice guys - i'd have ended up ordering half a dozen random (wrong) items if left to my own devices! The prices on that site look pretty good & they seem to stock spares for every phone i've ever heard of, just in case anyone finds themselves ina similar predicament!

John 8)