Question - Making Ribbon Cables

[Bleeding Jawa]

I have a project that keeps me from fitting all of my electronics where they need to go because my serial cable connectors are sticking out too far where they hook in.

To solve the problem, I was going to get some ribbon cables to minimize the size of the connections. I need one male to male serial DB9 cable (~8"), one male to female DB9 extension cable (~4-6"), and one DB15 male to female cable (~12-15"). I haven't been able to find anyone that sells something like this, so I figured I would make my own.

Two small questions:

Is this the type of connector that I want to buy (assuming that I don't want to solder):
http://www.computercablestore....ctor_Male_PID1364.aspx

Secondly, can I just use IDE cables that I have laying around instead of buying 100ft rolls? They are long enough for what I need, and I could conceivably just split off the extra wires that aren't needed. Is this the same kind of wire that I would be using? They both seem to be labeled similarly (105degrees, 300V, 28 AWG).
http://www.computercablestore....bon_Cable_catID66.aspx

 

[Modelworks]

That connector looks like its a bit wide for db9 serial connector.
Hard to tell in the picture. But it does say db9 which is the correct port.


You can use old floppy or ide cables, should work fine.
If you use a razor blade you can cut the beginning of the cable, and the extra wires will just pull off.

 

[Zepper]

Yes, that is the type of connector you want and almost all IDC connectors use the same type of ribbon cable that was used for the old 40-wire IDE cables. You'll have to color code your own pin ones once the only one on your 40-wire ribbon is used - Sharpie works OK for that. Looks like you found a good buy on the connectors - everything I found was higher but shipping could make up the difference.
. What sort of frequencies will your home-brew cables be expected to handle. Shielded cables are much better for high frequencies and to block RFI, etc.

.bh.

 

[Bleeding Jawa]

Thanks for the help!!!

I bought a few of these: http://www.winfordeng.com/products/cni9.php
They had both the DB9's & the DB15's there for low prices and cheap shipping.

As for the frequencies, I really have no idea. I just know that other people have used home-made ribbon serial cables for the same purpose. The DB9's will be run from a high speed camera to an automatic positioning device, and the other to an auto-adjusting lense...shouldn't be a big deal.

The DB15 might not work out as well...just an experiment to see if I can fit some componants into a smaller box. This cable sends data from the high speed camera to a little converter box that communicates with other systems through various connections. I'll have to test that one out a bit, since it actually transmits important data.

 

[Modelworks]

You should be fine at standard serial port speeds.
I have run lots of projects over way worse wiring than ribbon cable up to 115K.