Board-to-Board Mezzanine Plug, 120 Positions at 0.80mm Pitch
The TE Connectivity 5177986-5 is a 120-position plug from the Free Height (FH) series, designed as the top-half mezzanine connector for parallel board stacking. It uses a dual-row, center strip contact arrangement on a tight 0.031" (0.80mm) pitch, with surface-mount termination and gold-plated contacts at 8.00µin (0.203µm) thickness — a finish suited for signal-level duty and moderate mating cycles in controlled environments. An integral board guide on the housing aids pick-and-place alignment during reflow assembly, reducing the risk of skewed placement on a 120-position part. The key differentiator of this member is its support for four mated stacking heights — 5mm, 9mm, 13mm, and 17mm — from a single board footprint. That means one BOM line for the plug and one receptacle footprint can serve multiple board-spacing requirements across a product family, simplifying inventory management for the assembly line.
Stack Height Flexibility and Board Layout
The 0.80mm pitch and 120 positions give this plug a dense footprint that demands careful routing on the PCB. The 5mm minimum stack height is the tightest vertical clearance in the range, useful for slim handheld or module-to-module interconnects, while the 17mm height accommodates taller components on the mezzanine board. The board guide feature provides mechanical alignment during mating, which is helpful when the connector is not visible during assembly in a stacked enclosure.