Depending on what you want to connect, you will not need all of these components. It is definitely handy to have a few connector ready when needed though, as it speeds up troubleshooting.
The coaxial cable we use is thinner than the ⌀1.1mm recommended cable for UCLA Miniscopes, but we found it to work very well and impair the mice even less. It is also very easy to obtain and can be ordered stright from DigiKey or Mouser. This cable was also tested with the Doric Lenses commutator as outlined below. There is however no reason for the regular ⌀1.1mm cable not to work just as well for this application.
In order to connect the Miniscope DAQ box to the Doric Lenses commutator, you need at least the SMA-to-Harwin adapter circuit board with a female Harwin plug and male SMA connector as well as one of the Coax-to-Harwin options (with female Harwin connector as well). Since the Miniscopes will be connected directly to Harwin connectors, you will also need the male Harwin connector on an SMA-to-Harwin board in order to still be able to use the Miniscopes without a commutator for testing.
| Part Description | Manufacturer | Part ID | Order URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thin ⌀0.5mm 50Ω coax cable | Alpha Wire | 9436 WH033 | DigiKey |
| Harwin M80 12pos female connector | Harwin | M80-8871205 | DigiKey |
| Harwin M80 12pos male connector | Harwin | M80-8691222 [1] | DigiKey |
| Straight throughhole SMA plug 50Ω male | Amphenol RF | 901-9895-RFX | DigiKey |
| Straight edgemount SMA plug 50Ω male | Linx Technologies | CONSMA013.062 | DigiKey |
| U.FL SMD Connector | Hirose Electric Co Ltd | U.FL-R-SMT-1(10) | DigiKey |
[1]: Harwin M80-8691205 would have had a gold finish on termination as well (instead of tin/lead), but that version was not readily available to order when we needed it.
We used an assisted fiber-optic & electric rotary joint from Doric Lenses for our tests, because it was available from a different experiment. When creating a new setup for Miniscopes, it is a more cost-efficient idea though to go for the electrical-only model instead of one that also has fiber-optics included.
| Part Description | Manufacturer | Part ID | Order URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted Electrical Rotary Joint | Doric Lenses | AERJ_12_HARW | Doric Lenses |