Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

Philip Freidin — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 19:52:16 GMT

There is no schematic, it is just a cable. Look at the data sheet at www.tag-connect.com/.../TC2030-CTX.pdf and the info is all in the "Connections" table. Look here for the physical layout of the 6 pads: tag-connect.com/.../TC2030-IDC-NL.pdf These should match the pads on the Beacon board

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

arsalanjun — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 10:18:25 GMT

Hi, I am new to nRF51 devices. I have a nRF51822 Beacon Kit and a nRF51822 DK. I am unable to get the adapter cable (www.tag-connect.com/TC2030-CTX-NL) since they do not deliver to my country. Could you please tell me a solution to make a similar cable myself or order any alternate cable?

If i could get the schematic/connection of "www.tag-connect.com/TC2030-CTX-NL" then I will be able to make it myself.

Please advice. Thanks

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

james.eberhardt — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 17:14:06 GMT

If you use the TC2030-CTX-NL or TC2030-IDC-NL cables, be sure to get the TC2030-CLIP (www.tag-connect.com/TC2030-CLIP) that is needed to hold the cable onto the board for programming.

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

MartinBL — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 14:43:49 GMT

@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.

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

Philip Freidin — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 00:23:56 GMT

I had the same issue with nRF51822, and since I believe nRF52 is programmed the same way, my solution may work for you. Wojtek is correct, you only need 4 pins, and fortunately they are grouped in a 2 x 2 pattern at one end of the standard 0.05" pitch connector both on the nRF51 or nRF52 boards. The standard flat cable has a 2 x 5 IDC connector at each end that matches the connector on the DK boards (this is an ARM standard for Cortex processor debugging).

You can see my boards here www.oshchip.com, and here https://hackaday.io/project/7212-oshchip-v10

Scroll down to see some nice pictures.

The connector on my "chips" is FTSH-102-01-L-D made by Samtec (same manufacturer as Nordic uses for the connectors on the DK boards). There is also an SMT version rather than the through hole version I use.

To connect the DK board (or a Segger J-Link pod, or the programmer/debugger I will be selling), you just have to be careful that the cable is plugged into the connector using the 4 pins at the striped side of the cable, and rotated the correct way. I believe my solution is also smaller than any of the needle adapter solutions. Also, no adapter needed, just a standard cable.

The standard cable is FFSD-05-D-06.00-01-N

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

Lakerno — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 11:16:51 GMT

I am wondering if www.tag-connect.com/TC2030-CTX-NL is also compatible with 20 pin connector. Lets say i am using JLink EDU debugger, Then I need 20 pin to 6 pin. I am looking for a cheaper version of J-Link 6-pin Needle Adapter .

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

Wojtek — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 11:09:17 GMT

Isn't it enough to use 4 pins like on nrf51? Only SWDIO, SWDCLK, VCC and GND

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

MartinBL — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 10:38:45 GMT

It is certainly possible to debug your custom board using the 10-pin male connector (P19) on the nRF52 DK. What I am saying is that I don't know of any Needle adapters with a 0.05" pitch 2x5 female connector. You will probably have to use a a 0.05" pitch 2x5 male connector on your custom board as well, or you can buy the necessary connectors, pins and ribbon cable separately and make your own custom adapter.

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

oliverhu — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 08:15:28 GMT

you mean there is no way to debug nrf52 DK by 10-pin male connector? in other words, the board is designed with this 10-pins connector, don't the company offer any tools to debug?

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

MartinBL — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 07:01:24 GMT

I'm afraid that I don't know of any 0.05" pitch connector <-> Needle adapters.

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

oliverhu — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 11:01:41 GMT

so for nrf52 DK, what kind of 10-pin jlink adapter is able to use?

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

MartinBL — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 10:58:52 GMT

According to the 10-pin Needle Adapter's datasheet the female header connector is 0.1" pitch while the male connector on the nRF52/1 DK is only 0.05". So, no, I'm afraid not.

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

oliverhu — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 06:53:33 GMT

I saw that the NRF52 development kit use a 10-pin header, so is the J-Link 10-pin Needle Adapter able to connect with the NRF52 development kit.

RE: Recommendation for debug connector for nrf52 product

MartinBL — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 11:25:57 GMT

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.