What's the pitch/spacing of the 34-pin floppy disk drive IDC cable?
It seems to be 2.54mm, but with an ageing eyesight I can't be 100% sure.
I need to replace the cable in my STe due to recasing, and am thinking about ordering a new one from Ali Express, except most of the cables are for PCs (twisted wires), so I believe the best solution would be to just buy a suitable lengthed IDC cable, and attach a couple of 34 pin female IDC connectors at each end.
By the way, what is the maximum length I can have the cable without causing issues?
IDC cable pitch for floppy drive
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Pacman
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IDC cable pitch for floppy drive
STe | MonSTer with dual IDE-CF memory card adapter | NEC Multisync 1990SXi | ST_ESSC | RSVE | Link '97 | Sony HD floppy drive/AJAX controller | Exxos HD floppy module | Battery-backed Ricoh realtime clock module | Discovery cartridge | C-Lab Unitor-2 | C-Lab Export | C-Lab Combiner | C-Lab Steady Eye | C-Lab Human Touch | Unicorn USB
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: IDC cable pitch for floppy drive
Pretty sure the plug pitch is 2.54mm so a standard bit of header will fit into the plug. As for length I have a cable that's about 3 ft in length for one of my machines and it works fine with up to 2 drives.Pacman wrote: 21 Dec 2025 14:35 What's the pitch/spacing of the 34-pin floppy disk drive IDC cable?
It seems to be 2.54mm, but with an ageing eyesight I can't be 100% sure.
I need to replace the cable in my STe due to recasing, and am thinking about ordering a new one from Ali Express, except most of the cables are for PCs (twisted wires), so I believe the best solution would be to just buy a suitable lengthed IDC cable, and attach a couple of 34 pin female IDC connectors at each end.
By the way, what is the maximum length I can have the cable without causing issues?
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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LarryL
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Re: IDC cable pitch for floppy drive
The IDC header pitch is 2.54mm
But since the header has two rows, the pitch of the cable is 1.27mm
But since the header has two rows, the pitch of the cable is 1.27mm
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Pacman
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Re: IDC cable pitch for floppy drive
Thanks guys.
I'll just order a 1m cable (34 pins/1.27mm spacing) and a bunch of female headers (34 pin, double row, 2.54mm spacing) then, attach a header at each end, and if I find I need it shorter after having done the recasing I'll just snap on a third header at the desired length and cut the cable shorter after it (or leave it as it is if an unterminated cable like that won't cause any issues).
I'll just order a 1m cable (34 pins/1.27mm spacing) and a bunch of female headers (34 pin, double row, 2.54mm spacing) then, attach a header at each end, and if I find I need it shorter after having done the recasing I'll just snap on a third header at the desired length and cut the cable shorter after it (or leave it as it is if an unterminated cable like that won't cause any issues).
STe | MonSTer with dual IDE-CF memory card adapter | NEC Multisync 1990SXi | ST_ESSC | RSVE | Link '97 | Sony HD floppy drive/AJAX controller | Exxos HD floppy module | Battery-backed Ricoh realtime clock module | Discovery cartridge | C-Lab Unitor-2 | C-Lab Export | C-Lab Combiner | C-Lab Steady Eye | C-Lab Human Touch | Unicorn USB
💧Are you a good person? 💧Living Waters
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