Posted by Ryan Mannion on 21, 2001 at 10:50 PM:
In Reply to: Use a VGA extension cable..then you can solder to wires...more posted by Mr Arcade on 20, 2001 at 5:35 AM:
: If you look around you can pick up 6' vga extension cables for under $5. Just cut off the end you don't need...use a multimeter to map which wires go to which pins...then solder to the wires...easy as pie.
: Mr Arcade
Thank you for your suggestion! It was so obvious, but I completely overlooked it. I did take another stab at soldering onto a duplicate piece, and it was a success! The trick I used is to start with the middle row, working from left to right (or vice versa if you're left handed). I kept the soldering iron perpendicular to the pins from the right and applied the solder from the left. The problem I had before starting with Pin 1, positioning the soldering iron parallel to the pins (so that the potential for melting the wire insulator was very high) and trying to wedge the solder in from the opposite side. That led to all sorts of problems I described earlier. Some photos are at the included URL. kbd6.jpg and kbd7.jpg (I soldered one more connector after kbd7, and it turned out more uniform) are the applicable ones.
Now, I'm awaiting buttons from Happ Controls, and my project should be finished by the end of the week.
Again, thanks for your suggestion!
Ryan