Ribbon cable tester? Does such a thing exist?

Question

Hi, I have a 50 pin ribbon cable that is carrying a large number of signals from various hardware components in a medical device I am trying to test. I'm looking for a device/connector that would allow me to gain direct access to any one of the wires/pins in the cable, so I could set the voltage on any pin. Furthermore, this ideal device/ connector would allow me to disconnect any of the wires in the cable whenever I wanted. Does anyone know if such a device exists and who makes it?

Thanks,

Jason Mazzotta

Eeyore · Accepted Answer

You need a 'breakout box'. Try googling.Graham

Radiosrfun · Answer

I'm not into "breakout boxes" - never had a need for one or shopped for one to know of any differences in size, style, hook up, etc.... I "did" end up with one from a Computer repair business buy out - which is in a small hard shell case - has some jumpers with it, etc. Uses either AAs or a 9 vdc battery I believe. Been looking to sell it off - for a reasonable offer - plus shipping.

Lou

Joel Kolstad · Answer

3M makes something that will accomplish this: One was just a male to female connector, about an inch long, available in the common pin counts (26, 40, 50, etc.) with dual-row 0.1"-spaced pins. Each circuit had a little slide switch which connected or disconnected the signal. The other thing they made was a very short (~1/4") male to female connector with another male header sticking out of the side, 90 degrees to the main body. This allowed you to either hook up a scrobe probe or multimeter to measure voltages, or connect voltages

Ah, here they are:

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-- 3M "Intra-Connector" and "Intra-Switch."

---Joel

Ribbon cable tester? Does such a thing exist?

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