Short DB25 cables

[Circuitbenders]

Does anyone know where i can buy a very short DB25 cable, ideally about as long as this one but possibly might need to be slightly longer:



Basically i have two single unit rack cases that need to be connected together using a shielded cable with at least 20 cores. The easiest method would be using DB25 connectors but i can't find any cables that aren't way too long.

I did have a cunning plan involving a DB25 plug sticking out of the bottom of the top case that plugs into a socket recessed in the top of the lower case, but i'd sooner go with a short cable if i can find one.  Anyone got any other ideas?

[Ciderfeks]

Did you ever have any joy tracking down short DB25 cables?

[Circuitbenders]

Kind of. What i found were Daisy Chain cables for wiring together stacks of external hard drives or similar hardware. They are usually about 50-60cm long and seem to vary insanely in price from about £5 each to about £200 each for what appears to be more or less exactly the same thing.

You have to be careful though. Some of them don't have all the pins connected. I found that Belkin Omniview ones cost about £5 each and have all pins connected correctly, whereas ones made by Aten are slightly cheaper but have a few pins left disconnected.

[Ciderfeks]

Ok thanks, thats good to know - I've had trouble finding anything much under 1.5 meters!

[Gordonjcp]

You could get IDC DB25 connectors and make up ribbon cable patch leads any length you like.

[Ciderfeks]

You could get IDC DB25 connectors and make up ribbon cable patch leads any length you like.

Yes, this is true and I have bought some with that in mind for studio instruments but (and this may seem daft) I prefer the aesthetic of the regular round cable and it somehow just feels more sturdy for potential live use. I bought some burglar alarm cable that has eight cores which is fine for smaller projects and I suppose I could have a couple of lengths of that sealed together inside heatshrink to give me up to 16, but for a couple of quid (well, £3) a ready made DB25 seemed the least hassle. Anyone know of any 25 way multicore that isn't prohibitively thick and/or expensive for rolling your own?

[Circuitbenders]

11p good quality 25 way serial cable anyone? I have a box of about 40 odd from here.

http://www.mutr.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=406&products_id=1012

I've used IDC cables for a couple of things, mainly Cheetah MD16's which kindly have an IDC expansion port you can just plug a patchbay into. They don't seem very sturdy though.

Maplins used to do reasonably sized 25 core cable but i'm not sure if they do anymore. When my local store stopped stocking it the guy who runs the components department stole me a few meters of it as they were just throwing everything out that they had stopped stocking!
The cheapest way i've found to get hold of 25 way cable of usable thickness is to buy a printer cable with a decently thin cable and just hack the connectors off. Unfortunately those ones from MUTR are fairly thick.

[Ciderfeks]

Well thats just blown my £2.99 "bargain" out of the water! 11p thats mad. Good site in general with some interesting stuff, cheers for the link.