lauantai 17. maaliskuuta 2012

DIY Ribbon Cables

I think ready-made Eurorack power ribbon cables is quite expensive, at least these commercial ones which cost around 5 € each, depending on brand.Of course if you buy new module, cable comes with it, but for DIY modules you have to buy one or make your own.

Much cheaper option is make your own IDC ribbon cable. What you need is some IDC connectors and ribbon cable. For most modules you need to make cable with 10 contact IDC connector in another end and 16 another. 16 way connector goes to bus board and 10 to module.
Some commercial modules have 16  to 16 , but that´s more rare than usual.

I bought cable and connectors from Futurlec. Gray 10 way ribbon cable cost 0.40 $ per meter and  10 or 16 Contact IDC Socket Connector cost 0.25 $ each + S & H.

Well, without any maths here, it´s under 1 € per cable. Now, that´s a reasonable price for a cables!


Assembly is pretty easy, but you have to be careful to avoid any bad socket installs.. thought.
Leakage between single cables might cause short circuit and destroy your module eventually and that is not  something what we want!
It´s good idea to first press connector and cable smoothly together with your hands. Be sure to use enough power, so socket stays in it´s place and doesn´t fall off . Check cable that it´s in right position and there isn´t any noticeable misplacement,  then tighten up between vise jaws.

Let´s take a closer look DIY IDC ribbon cable assembly:


Connectors come in three part construction. First two from right is actual connector and part in left is cable holder.



Cable and connector firmly tighten together. Left side is 10 pin connector and 16 pin in right. Take note if you are making power cables for Eurorack modular system, 16 pin connector should be installed like in picture below. Connecting cable to the another side of connector you get int.gate, int. cv, + 5 V, +12 V and gnd from bus board. What we need  is -12 V, gnd, +12 V. Red stripe in cable indicates - 12 V. More info about bus board pin outs from  Doepfer technical details.



'

Almost there, tightening connector between vise jaws.



Installing cable holder.



 All done!





torstai 8. maaliskuuta 2012

MFOS Dual Vca #2

Today i finished new module to my forthcoming modular system,  MFOS Dual Vca #2 . This is an older version of  Ray Wilson´s Vca , but as Ray has written on his website, it´s still very viable design.