ok some total noob-ish question(s) here (sorry!)

geigercounter120 · July 24, 2006, 01:11:24 PM

i've read some descriptions of bent instruments online and Ive seen mention of people using a db25 port...
what exactly would they use this for?
am i right in thinking that every (or a number of) pin(s) on an IC can be wired&soldered to the pins on the db25... then the other end of the cable/port can be used to connect to patch-bays etc...
does this sound right?

cheers

Chris

Circuitbenders · July 24, 2006, 02:00:40 PM

If you wanted to wire up a patchbay or a big bank of switches and there wasn't enough room to mount them inside the case you could mount them in an external box and connect the patchbay box and the main unit together with a multiway D type connector.

Every wire that would normally go to a patchbay connection on the main unit instead goes to a D connector socket and links up with the corresponding pin on the D socket on the external patchbay case via the multiway cable.

I'm sure I've just explained that in a far more tricky way that strictly necessary but you get the general idea

Circuitbenders · July 25, 2006, 03:52:56 AM

Oh, and soldering together a 25 way connector with all the wiring is for an external patchbay box one of the least amusing things you will ever do.........

The Horror!

geigercounter120 · July 25, 2006, 02:06:25 PM

Quote from: Circuitbenders on July 25, 2006, 03:52:56 AM
Oh, and soldering together a 25 way connector with all the wiring is for an external patchbay box one of the least amusing things you will ever do.........

The Horror!

haha! i can imagine $:-\$

papaspank · July 25, 2006, 08:35:34 PM

And the huge question is this....

WHY BOTHER?!?!!?!?!

Simply get some serious mutil-core (like the kind they have for joysticks or anything with many connections), some little glands(no - NOT NADS the cable hold sort you see on anything with a lead going into a metal/plastic box to stop you from ripping the cable out) and an external box to put all you patchbays/controls in to...

and there you go, without running the risk of loosing one part of your unit and trying to find it, without any success.

AS an added bonus - it will cost you a wad less in parts then.

Leaving more ca$h to buy more tat to mutilate

Circuitbenders · July 25, 2006, 09:14:50 PM

er......because theres few things more irritating than having two boxes flapping around on thick cables that you can't detach from each other. If you are never going to move them around then fair enough, in which case you might as well just bolt the patchbay box to the side of the main unit, but using a detachable external patchbay gives you much more flexibility if you are transporting things and also allows you to easily change whats on the end of the cable.

I've seen more than one person use a drum machine to which they connect an external patchbay for studio use and then attach an external box with hardwired switches for live use. Try that with the cable hardwired in.

Oh, and it looks way cooler with a big 25 way plug.

geigercounter120 · August 07, 2006, 02:37:58 PM

cheers for those replies Circuitbenders & papaspank - yr comments are v. helpful. i have a separate question that probs doesn't merit a new thread.

I've bent a furby so that it now speaks most horribly in tongues when new switches and buttons are thrown - I'm quite pleased with it as its my first real completed bend.

I'd like to mount the new switches and a 1/4" jack into a small breakout box I've acquired due to both room and aesthetic issues. now it's going to look rubbish if i just run 4-5 or whatever (its not in work with me!) separate (and insulated) solid core wire strands from its case into the new box. and i don't really want to use a big length of heatshrink wrap to turn the mess into 1 nice wire... I'm having trouble with searching for what I'm after (and also describing it here!), but what do i need to search for/do to turn this mass of wires into 1 nice cable that can run from furby to box...?

I hope that this post doesn't read as nooB-ish as it seems to atm!

Cheers for yer help again!

Chris

Circuitbenders · August 07, 2006, 03:20:53 PM

Some kind of multicore cable would come in handy there then. You can get multicore audio cable from loads of places but you might as well use something like 8 core Cat 5e network cable unless you need more connectors.

Maplins sell Scart cable by the metre with up to 20 insulated cores for about £1.50 a metre or they also do a selection of other multicores http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=230&doy=7m8

geigercounter120 · August 07, 2006, 03:43:06 PM

yep, i was thinkin along those lines: i'd have just rather used solid core if possible (especially as my soldering 'skills' are hughly questionable as yet!)

Thanks dude!