Quick and Dirty FDD extension cable

[rubber_jonnie]

As I've largely moved to Gotek these days, it's useful to have an extension to the floppy cable, and unless you've done something like this: https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... f=12&t=122, then you'll need to look at options.

One is the quick and dirty option I'll walk through here. I've been using this method for a while, and it's actually pretty reliable and really quite inexpensive.

First off, do a search for "40-pin Male to Female Breadboard Jumper Wires Colourful Ribbon 20cm Cable" to find what you need. I got mine from eBay, but I appreciate not everybody has access, so get it wherever you can. There's 2 important factors. They must be in ribbon cable format, and they must be Male to Female.

This is what I bought:

Jumpers.jpg

The first job is to split the ribbon into 2 pieces, straight down the middle. If you've got 40-pin cable, you now have 2 pieces of 20-pin ribbon cable. Once you've done that, remove 3 wires from one side of each of the 20-pin ribbons you now have, so each one is now a 17-pin ribbon cable.

I removed the same colours from each piece, so I then had 2 pieces of 17-pin ribbon cable with exactly the same ribbon colouring.

Start by taking one piece of 17-pin ribbon cable, and plug the male end into the FDD connector of your Atari ST like so:

CableToCable.jpg

There will be a side of the 17-pin ribbon cable that has an opening, with metal visible. Make sure these aren't facing each other, to avoid the possibility of a short. Also make sure that none of the wires are crossed or twisted, and that they plug into the FDD plug sequentially, or it will make life tricky later on.

Keep going until both 17-pin ribbons are plugged into the FDD cable, as below:

PartWay.jpg

Now move on to the FDD, and repeat the exercise with the female connectors of the 17-pin ribbon cable:

CableToFloppy.jpg

Again, these should be straight through from the FDD cable, and all the conectors should connect in the same sequence as the ribbon cable (The colours really help here) with no twists at all in the ribbon connectors, as below:

MidWay.jpg

Now is the time to double check that all of the connectors run straight through from the FDD connector to the floppy drive or Gotek.

Now, use electronic insulation tape to tightly wrap the bundles of connectors up so that they stay in one place:

WrappingUp.jpg

You may wish to use the tape at a couple of points along the ribbons to hold everything in place.

Finally, disconnect and you have your extension cable:

Finished.jpg

Just be aware to handle with care so that once you disconnect, you don't cause any of the connectors to move.

Once it's in place, you'll probably have no need to unplug again, so everything should be fine and dandy.

[PhilC]

Good idea, I've used the same cables for the power cable for the ultrasatan inside my Mega.

[exxos]

Geek points there!

These are the ones I do just for future reference :)

https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0065

[rubber_jonnie]

Geek points there!

These are the ones I do just for future reference :)

https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0065

Aye, yours are much, much nicer it has to be said :thumbup:

Do I get a voucher or something if I get enough geek :ugeek: points?

[exxos]

Do I get a voucher or something if I get enough geek :ugeek: points?

You get more work to do ;)

[rubber_jonnie]

Do I get a voucher or something if I get enough geek :ugeek: points?

You get more work to do ;)

Ok, fair enough, better get working on earning more points then!