Posted by Munich on 7, 2001 at 10:31 AM:
In Reply to: The concept is good posted by XTC on 7, 2001 at 10:22 AM:
I tried to use molex connectors for my cocktail cab's removable control panels, but crimping the wires without a molex crimping tool (I'm cheap!) is a pain in the arse. It took me roughly 2 hours to crimp all of the leads in each 12 pin connector (8+ hours total).
Once wires starting coming out due to my bad crimp job, I pitched the molex junk and went with db15 and a soldering iron. I had all 4 connectors (2 male, 2 female) wired and ready to go in under 2 hours total.
Also, I didn't use any fancy wires like ribbon cable or such. I just used std 20 gauge hookup wire from RadioShack, and when I was done, I twisted the snot out of them (they hold shape really well) and then used cable ties to make sure they don't come apart.
Matt
: : I'm using an Ipac as my encoder. This will work with any encoder or keyboard though
: : -I bought some m to f DB15 extension cables.
: : -IPAC has 28 total inputs.. 14 per player, plus 2 grounds. 2 DB15's are perfect. If your encoder has more than 15 inputs per player, use DB25's which gives you 25 per player (or maybe 24, depending on your grounds).
: : -Now cut an extension cord in half. Take the female end and wire each individual wire to an input on player one. Then take the male end and wire each individual wire to your cp to the corresponding controls for each input. Now repeat this for player 2 (and 3 and 4, if you have them).
: : -You are making the cp swappable, so you can interchange it.
: : NOTE: Some people have used computer ribbon cables, which I believe give you even more inputs per cable.
: The concept is right on. However, I tried that with my original design - I found the wire to be much too thin. Replaced with 18 gauge wire and male to female molex connectors - extremely durable and very easy to swap panels.
: - XTC