midiphy wirescanner - introducing a graphical cable testing toolkit :)

[Hawkeye]

Hola,

as cables are quite often problematic, Andy has developed a really cool tool, that allows to visualize the integrity of your cables - not only IDC cables, but also micromatch cables, as used in the upcoming MatriX :). Here's a short introduction video:

Shop link:
https://www.midiphy.com/en/shop-details/0/84/midiphy-wirescanner-pcb

Hope you enjoy! :)

Many greets and have a nice weekend,
Peter

[Antichambre]

Hi,

I risk being scolded because it's not exactly the subject, but it has a relation anyway ;)
At the beginning I destroyed a lot of micromatch by wanting to crimp them with a vice or an unsuitable pliers.
The official crimping pliers, probably solid gold, is extremely expensive, so I made adapters for the classic 10€ IDC crimping plier.




there's a ribbon guide, a male and a female adapter. It works for all type and pin number.



result is very clean!




Here the drawing, it requires a small CNC to fab it.

Peter, Andy, it's a very good idea, It would be perfect if your tester could also make the MIDI cables and Jack 3.5. :)
Very good cause it tests continuity and short-cut, Great!

Have a good WE! Best regards
Bruno
 

Edited October 24, 2020 by Antichambre

[Hawkeye]

@Antichambre no worries, no harm done! A specialized crimp tool is also very good idea - everything that makes cables better! If you don't have a crimp tool with replaceable insets, at least the wirescanner can test the built cables reliably... 

In the early days of building MB6582 display cables, i tested every pin 1:1 with a digital multimeter and with that time-consuming method probably still missed out shorts to neighboring wires! :)

Best regards and have a good weekend!
Peter

[latigid on]

I have the same "IDC crimping tool" but favour simply using a bench vise. For micromatch MOW cables I leave the polarising tab outside and it works well for me. If you have different tools that work for you, all good!

As far as testing other cable types go, there is a plan to build a "backpack"/"shield" that spans across the IDC16s. Then in theory any connector could be wired in. 

It's a really fun project to build and you can see it working straight away. :)