Re: modifiable backplane with sockets?

On 5/27/2025 3:51 PM, Christopher Howard wrote:

For a project, I was wanting to make some small electronic cards that slide
into sockets on a backplane, and then wire them together on the
backplane.

How are you planning on supporting these cards?  What sort of
masses involved?  Any connections to the opposite end of the card
(that would add to the stress on such a "socket")?

I want the freedom to redo the wiring on the backplane
without having to reprint a new backplane. Do I have to find some old
wire-wrapped backplane from the 1970s, or is there some kind of modern
— and ideally inexpensive — approach to this sort of thing? Maybe I just
need the right kind of sockets mounted on a normal PCB, and then wire
wrap on the back side of those...?

Are you certain that (analog!) signal integrity won't be an issue
with this approach?  The frequencies and signal levels involved
(as you likely will be severely constrained as to HOW a signal can
be routed from "socket A" to "socket F")

I was thinking like 10 or so pins per card, though maybe I could use
quad chips instead for my modules and go with something like 40 pins.

Is size/density an issue?  I.e., more liberal contact spacing might improve
your ability to route the signals without undue coupling.
Are your modules going to use printed wiring?  I.e., does the "plug"
that mates to these sockets mount *onto* the card?  Can you use fingers,
instead (more costly to manufacture; why pay a PCB house to plate
them when you can purchase a "plug/socket" that is already plated)

It is not a data bus — purely analog — so I'm not looking for some kind
of data bus design.

How durable do you want the finished assembly to be?  I.e., are you
just trying to use it to mock-up designs?  Or, are you intending to
*deploy* a system thusly assembled?  How fussy can you be in assembling
(and disassembling) such a configuration -- how durable do the
connectors need to be?
Something like this (simply by way of example):
<https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/sullins-connector-solutions/EBC06MMMD/1922782>
wouldn't need to be part of a "backplane PCB" but could just be fastened to
a support member spaced appropriately from its neighbor(s)