Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

[Lakerno]

I am designing a BLE device. Want to make the PCB as small as possible. to download the code/debug etc I need the a connecter on the board which can connect to the nrf52 preview dk development board. Is there any recommendation for a tiny connector? 8 pins will suffice. Such connectors can be found in mouser etc. The main issue is how to interface those connectors with the 10 pin connector used in the nrf52 preview dk? because I probably need an adaptor to connect it. Is there any tried/tested recommended combination for this issue?

thanks

[MartinBL]

Hi,

How about Segger's J-Link 6-pin Needle Adapter (or the 10-pin version). They are pretty tiny and we have used them on our Beacon kits. The only downside is the plastic things on the adapter meant to hold it in place. You can simply cut them off, but then you will have to hold it in place while programming. You can also buy them without the plastic holders here.

EDIT: Better alternative for a 6-pin needle adapter: TC2030-CTX-NL 6-Pin "No Legs" Cable with 10-pin micro-connector for Cortex processors.

Otherwise I will suggest that you simply find some 6 or 8-pin versions of the headers we use on our development kit. Dependent on your design you might benefit from finding something similar with a through hole mounting style.

Anyway, I think you might need to do some extensive googling or make an adapter from the 10-pin nRF52 DK header to your 6 or 8-pin custom connector yourself.

[MartinBL]

@Wojtek: I'm sure he can. I guess I got a little caught up in the numbers 8 and 10 as mentioned by the original poster. But then again, I guess he would have to make his own 10 to 4 pin adapter.

@Lakerno: I think the female header on the adapter in the link you provide is a micro header, i.e. 0.05" pitch, and the header on the J-Link EDU is 0.1" pitch. So I don't think it will be plug and play, but it shouldn't be that difficult to modify it. E.g. cut off the micro header and attach a 0.1" pitch 20 pin connector instead.