Edge adapters (MotherX4 / Ribbon cable)

[TotO]

Hello,

I have built a little PCB that allow to add an edge connector at end of the MotherX4 (female, revert it) or to a ribbon cable.
Here how they look. I will add them on centpourcent.net as soon as possible.

Cheers,

  TotO

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[Bryce]

Very nice, but you haven't included the keyway cut-out??

Bryce.

[TotO]

The PCB is really little and I was afraid that should break it.
I have take a look on many expansions first. None of them came with a key pad. May be I'm wrong?

[pelrun]

And I was soldering IDC headers to my edge connectors today because I'm fed up with how awful they are...

[Bryce]

Well modern expansions don't have the keyway, but all of my DKTronics stuff does. If the PCB is 1.6mm FR4 then it's very robust, the 50 way header also makes it very rigid.

Bryce.

[TotO]

I own an Amstrad DDI-1 and some DK'Tronics  expansions and they don't have it. 
I suggest that is a removable plastic pin. But OK... I will try to produce it with the key slot.

[00WReX]

I have also been playing around with connectors lately.

I have some 'PCB mount' edge connectors and decided to try a direct solder to a 50 pin header connector.

[attach=2]

[attach=3]

[attach=4]

The solder pins on the edge connector do not directly line up with those on the header, but I simply sat the pins on a desk and rolled them a bit to get the correct angle to meet up with the header solder pins.

Cheers,
Shane

[TotO]

Nice done for a female connector. 

[pelrun]

Haha, those edge connectors shall cause me grief no more! The idc connectors do stick out of the back of the machine a bit, but I can live with that - too bad the footprint for the centronics connectors have a weird row spacing, or I'd have stuck right-angle headers in them instead.

It immediately solved several issues I had with voltage sag on the MotherX4, and write on the external drive not working.

[TotO]

I prefert to not see that... 

[Ast]

Me too !

[pelrun]

I don't see the problem - it's a pretty minor mod, actually lets my peripherals work properly finally, and is completely reversible if I was for some reason to go completely insane and decide I wanted to do that.


The ABBA switch mod is worse, actually, since I had to cut a track for it.

[TFM]

Hello,
I have built a little PCB that allow to add an edge connector at end of the MotherX4 (female, revert it) or to a ribbon cable.
Here how they look. I will add them on centpourcent.net as soon as possible.
Cheers,
  TotO

Oh, is there a chance to get this with Centronics adapters too?

[Bryce]

What use is a Centronics version? There were no original expansions with Centronics connector that wasn't on a flat cable. For these the expansion connector can easily be changed. The edge version is useful for expansions like DK and DDI-1 where the connector is soldered to the PCB.

Bryce.

[TFM]

What use is a Centronics version?

Talking about a Centronics 50 pin port, identical to what Schneider CPC 6128 had at it's back. So I would be able to use all me expansions with Centronics ports, which is by far the majority of my expansions.

[Bryce]

But don't your expansions have a flat cable attached? If so, it's more reliable and relatively easy to just make a different cable for the expansions.

Bryce.

[TFM]

But don't your expansions have a flat cable attached? If so, it's more reliable and relatively easy to just make a different cable for the expansions.

Bryce.

Then I need new cables for different expansions. I would need a port like to be found on the Schneider CPC6128. So I can add one expansion if needed. Most of them have a 2nd connector for the next one too (all Centronics, no bad pcb blade).


But I can make that cable by myself too, it's easy.