Gregmidi Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Hi everyone, what a wonderful forum you guys have here and such smart people too. So... I have a CME UF80 and decided to (stupidly) relocate the keybed to under my desk and was hoping to have the main controller part on top of my desk (things I do when I get bored)... So i went ahead and mounted the keybed under my Desk and purchased some ribbon extension cables (130cm) from China. This is where it all went wrong. I did not realise that ribbon cables won't work if they are longer than 45cm :( So now I don't know what to do, Is it even possible to still use my keyboard this way? I haven't been able to find any alternative wire that would work either. Is there a kit available on here that would do the trick?. Sorry for the long post, hope you guys can help me. I can upload pics if you need me too also... I'm sorry If I have posted this in the wrong area too...Thanks so much :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FantomXR Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 (edited) Hi and welcome to the forum! Well, to be honest I can not believe, that a ribbon cable with this length stops working completely. Are you sure that the ribbon cable has the correct orientation? I made this mistake often in the past. In general it's a twisted cable (one connector looks up, one connector looks down, cable straight). Pictures might help! Edited August 14, 2018 by FantomXR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Thanks for replying, I dont think there is a twist. Can you confirm please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 I had to use male to male connectors so I could join, cause you cant buy male to female Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Here you can see the main controller behind the RM1X thus the need for the long length :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Welcome to the forums! Two suggestions/remarks: a) take photos of the end connectors of the original cable, there is a mark on every IDC connector, marking "pin 1". It is usally an arrow. When building a clone cable, make sure you replicate it in a way, that the orientation of the new connectors is identical, with the connector "arrow" marks being on the identical wire strands. b) unfortunately, cable length can be an issue. We ran into a cable length problem with an OLED recently, that was triggered by just adding 20cm of ribbon wire length. Yes, we would not have believed it earlier on :). So, if it still does not work after step a), try to reduce your cable length and see when it works. Good luck, Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Thanks and Hi Peter, yes I am aware of the arrow marking pin1 thanks. Maybe its not possible to join 2 females using a male to male? maybe I need to chop off the ends and solder. What are your thoughts please? Not sure if these photos will help, 2nd photo is the original cables from the keybed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Oops, I think I finally see the problem, these cables cant be joined this way. Am I right? Up till now Iv'e been thinking as long as the red is on the same side it would work but no I see now that doing that puts pin1 on the bottom row instead of the top. Does this make sense at all? :) I think I should solder, what do you think guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antichambre Posted August 14, 2018 Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Yes it makes sense, one side of your ribbon seems to be wrong (left connector on your picture) 4 hours ago, Gregmidi said: Welcome here... Best regards Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2018 Thanks Bruno, I'll let you guys know if it works tomorrow... going to bed now :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Hi guys, about to do some soldering and just want to check the configuration on a 20 pin IDC. Is it correct that pin 2 is directly underneath pin 1? thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FantomXR Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Yes! That's correct! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Ah cool, thanks... will try it now :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latigid on Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 As you noticed, you can't extend ribbon cables this way as you end up "mirroring" the connection. Better would be to use a male IDC such as this: https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/Omron-Electronics/XG4E-2032?qs=sGAEpiMZZMs%252bGHln7q6pm%252bv5BXf4QdrTRziNjnmvfaI%3d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latigid on Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Also this from Reichelt: https://www.reichelt.com/de/de/wannenleiste-20-pol-stifte-din-41651-3m-46206001-p224961.html?&trstct=pol_4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregmidi Posted August 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Yes it seems I found out the hard way lol... thanks for the links also... but good news anyway guys its all working now that I have soldered it... seems ribbon can work over longer lengths after all :) Thanks for all your help guys, take care :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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