semi-custom ribbon cable assemblies

You mean like this? They used to make to order, but not any longer:

That is the Canadian Digikey version...

I use a simple ribbon crimping tool, and buy the ribbon wire in rolls. Take only a minute to make a cable like the photo you provided:

Unless you are making hundreds you may want to just do them yourself, or get some school kid to do them.

Then all you need is a simple continuity checker that shows good connections and cross shorts. A walking LED or Arduino setup would work fine.

Being too busy, I found a nice connector tester on eBay that checks up to 50 pin cables. Made some adapter cables out the back to cover more cables.

I want to archive the CPU code, anyone have an adapter reader for TMP47P400VN so it can be read as a 2764? Or I'll make one myself. This product is no longer supported by Assman (Germany) who used to distribute it. It is very simple though, it reads your known-to-be-good cable and then compares to any cable you plug in is compared to it. Battery life is dismal, I use a 9V adapter.

And no, you can't buy mine.

John :-#)#

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We make our own for small runs. Get one of these Mini Arbor Press

< >

and the IDC Press Retrofit Kit listed.

The guide arms help or cut a L shape out of some plastic that you can tape to the base as a guide for the connector. I've also found it helps if you use a dot of red nail polish or similar to mark the connector. Makes it easier to visually match the cable strip to the connector. A little prep work and a person can make a bunch of cables in a short time.

--
Chisolm 
Republic of Texas

Excellent. I just want that person to work for someone else.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics

There's a bazillion local connector shops around, should be no problem to find one.

If you need cost (unlikely), I understand the guys from Dirty PCBs now do Dirty Cables: exactly what you want, no negotiation, standard form. You'd just have to put up with them sometimes falling apart maybe...

Tim

-- Seven Transistor Labs, LLC Electrical Engineering Consultation and Contract Design Website:

I don't know if your quantities would be enough to interest Unique Electronics in Orlando. I knew one of the engineers there, and IO helped them prove that a customer supplied reel of coax was defective by loaning them some hardline assemblies from some 4GHz microwave systems.

Hmm, do you have a co-worker with teenager who might want to bang them out at home for some extra cash?

George H.

And maybe mess up 10% of them? This is something that is commonly done badly. And I should institute a project to make a universal cable tester? And assign someone to test the kid's work?

I want to buy professionally assembled, tested cable assemblies. I was wondering if anyone had a preferred vendor. Guess not.

It's amazing how many people want to make their own transformers, inductors, PCBs, cables, and other labor-intensive stuff.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics

I was wondering if someone had a good one that they like.

That's what I don't want to do.

--

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics

What's a job like that pay?

There's a local fab place that does boards and custom cables for us.

There must be hundreds of places like that in your neck of the woods. For simple cables it's cheaper for us to make them. (Well after you've bought the fancy crimp tool.)

George H.

Put in a bid and find out.

5x2 IDC, 30cm cable, minimum order 100, $3.76 each from dirtycables to give you an idea

Cheek with your vendors, I know Assmann has value added services. Cheers

Yes, they still do. Not sure that totally arbitrary length of cable is available on the automatic system. But, I'm pretty sure they can do totally arbitrary length, multiple connectors on one cable, etc. if you ask them. I think the automatic stuff only handles cable length in 6" increments. The automatic stuff is accessed by selecting the IDC connector end, then there will be a selection matrix, and it has "cable assembly" in the list.

Jon

Get a Beta Automation tester. I don't think they make these anymore, but there are units floating around on eBay, etc. I saw one at another site, and got our university to get one. Very nice, and it has a light for each wire, and you spin an encoder to step through all the wires.

Jon

That's NOT a list of labor-intensive stuff, though. That's a list of not-available-off-the-shelf subassemblies.

Almost every useful item I see around me has a few of those in it. Heck, this thread consists of labor-intensive assemblies of standard dictionary words, mainly not farmed out to a subcontractor...

Have a Link? I dont see them anymore. I do see lots of Samtec assemblies, John should try the samtec site. But they do have common lengths on digikey.

Cheers

Where? USA or China?

Molex will deliver assemblies. DigiKey was probably selling their stuff.

Then the old standby

I think just about every major cable+connector will take orders on customized assemblies of their product line.