Posted by Druin on 20, 2000 at 5:11 PM:
In Reply to: Recommended wire # for control panel connections posted by JECRRO on 20, 2000 at 2:59 PM:
:Thinner is better for soldering, but does it have :some effect on the transmitted signals.
For the human-response-time signals of control panels with pressing switches, there is no concern for wire type/size used...things come into play when going LONG distances, with losses in the lines, or at high frequencies (skin effect where diameter of wire comes into play etc) but people can't press buttons that fast!
:I heard that someone was trying to use an IDE
: ribbon cable to make it easier to move the :keyboard hack to other control panels.
Yes that would be convenient when making things interchangeable, and in such a case, generally you don't directly solder the thin wires on that cable, you buy (or build) the cable with the connectors already crimped on the ends and you just solder the IDE connectors that the ribbon will plug into.
For manual soldering point to point, the general accepted standard is 22 solid. That's the diameter used most often to fit in the holes of experimental breadboard circuits. I think telephone wire is about 24, a little thinner. I don't like it much but if it's available, why not.
To keep things in perspective, 30 is that very thin wire used to wind coils in hobby motors and similar electromagnets, impossible to use....and going the other way, 12 is a heavy stiff wire more like a coat hanger.