Ribbon cable to breadboard connectors

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pilko

Senior Member
Hi everyone,
Are there such things as Ribbon cable to breadboard connectors. In other words, connectors that can be attached to the end of 10 wire and 20 wire ribbon cables and plug into 0.1 inch spaced breadboard holes? If not, what is the alternative method?
I’d like to connect my new 28 pin project board to a breadboard and start experimenting “me nerves” --- “oh to be young again”.
 
E

eclectic

Moderator
pilko said:
Hi everyone,
Are there such things as Ribbon cable to breadboard connectors. In other words, connectors that can be attached to the end of 10 wire and 20 wire ribbon cables and plug into 0.1 inch spaced breadboard holes? If not, what is the alternative method?
I’d like to connect my new 28 pin project board to a breadboard and start experimenting “me nerves” --- “oh to be young again”.
Click to expand...
Have a look around this section of the Rapid site,

http://www.rapidonline.com/Cables-Connectors/Connectors-Multipole/PCB-Interconnect

while you're waiting for US and Canada answers

e
 
hippy

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
There are ribbon cable PCB connectors where the ribbon crimps into the plastic and pins solder into the PCB but the pins may not make good contact. There are also sockets into which ribbon cable plugs ( like IDE disk drives ) which have PCB pins.

Perhaps the easiest is to get a bit of vero-board or strip-board, solder a ribbon cable socket to that and flying leads into the breadboard. You can always split the ribbon cable into strands, either solder the tips of individual wires to make them a bit stiffer or to other more sturdy wires.
 
P

pilko

Senior Member
Thanks eclectic and hippy ---checked Rapidonline ---not quite what i'm looking for.---presently using the tinned wire end method. Thought may be some sort of crimp-on adapter that converts dual 10 pin to single 20 pin at 0.1 inch spacing. Probably a long shot.
 
T

Tim036

Member
I use strip board (Vero Board) for all one off prototypes once I've proven the Pic programme on the breadboard.

Breadboard is quick to prove a part of a complex circuit but becomes a nightmare on a larger system.

In the breadboard I only use the steel tipped connecting wire from Rapid as they make a better connection than anything else I've tried.

Carefully designed and built strip board is as reliable as printed circuit board. Many of my gadgets built using have been running 24/7 for years undisturbed.

Ribbon cable links between strip board modules are rock solid in my experience.

Others may prefer different equipment practices, which may be equally good or even better.

:)

Tim
 
hippy

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
Strip-board is handy for splitting two-row ribbon sockets in two; a careful bit of junior hacksawing and a clean division can be made between the pins ( only 0.1" apart ). I don't know of anything which splits otherwise.

Note that the ribbon cable strands are consecutively numbered ( 1 is red/blue strand ), while on the header / socket it's pin 1 at a corner, then across to opposite side for pin 2 and zig-zagging back and forth as against DIL which run clockwise.
 
M

manuka

Senior Member
All manner of nifty plugs can be rustled up using header pin strips, although 28 pins inserted all at once may be a tad daunting. These cheap gold plated darlings simply snap off for the length required- solder your wires to the other end, & maybe reinforce with some heat shrink/hot melt glue. See an early PICAXE programming lead being made => http://www.picaxe.orconhosting.net.nz/pickahu.jpg Yikes- that was 7 years back! I've made numerous custom multi-pin plugs over the years like this, with DIY cell phone charging plugs being memorable. Thankfully the industry is finally going to standardize ( mini USB) on charger sockets.

The rugged terminated flying leads shown =>http://www.picaxe.orconhosting.net.nz/jumpers.jpg are little winners too of course for quick lash ups. Do you know of these?

Ah -you want sockets with that ? Simply grab a suitable IC socket & trim to size- the header pins fit these OK for circuit trials, although not as well as direct BB insertion. Stan
 
M

moxhamj

New Member
I'm not sure such a thing exists without soldering. In other words a SIL to ribbon cable connector that is IDC. Essentially you only get every alternate wire connected as the ribbon wire spacing is 0.05".

I came across this problem about 6 months ago (and suggestions would be gratefully received!) where I wanted to connect a ribbon cable to a 16 way SIL on an LCD display via a socket. Soldering the wires became tedious and there was also the issue of plugging it in the wrong way, or with 1 pin offset. I found the hard way both of those mistakes zaps an LCD display. So I ended up making some little PCBs that convert 16 way SIL to a 2x8 way header. A 2x8 header comes in a box version which you simply can't plug in the wrong way. 2x8 headers also come with IDC for the cable part. So you can solder a SIL 16x1 header onto the LCD display, then solder on the adaptor PCB and put a 2x8 box header on that PCB. Use a 2x8 on the other end with the picaxe or other board. Then make up some short cables using IDC connectors. Now I can mix and match different LCD displays easily, eg swap in 8x2 or 16x2 or 20x2 or 20x4. As many on this forum will know, LCD displays use very similar code so swapping in different displays will still work (generally you just can't see some letters on the smaller ones).

For connecting onto a breadboard, I need to go back and read the threads above more thoroughly as someone may have already mentioned it, but back in the olden days Tandy (Radio Shack) sold an IDC connector that converted ribbon cable into a package that was the same size as an IC (I think it was 16 pin). That would fit onto a breadboard. I haven't seen them around for a while though, and I'm not sure what they are called.

See the side view - this would fit perfectly into a breadboard.

Hmm, I wonder if there is a market for tiny PCBs that convert SIL to box headers??
 

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D

Dippy

Moderator
I wish I could find a SIL - IDT for ribbon too.

My only solution is too expensive for most on this Forum - though it works very well.
http://uk.farnell.com/tyco-electronics/fsn-21a-10/ribbon-cable-10way-1/dp/1310328

It comes in various lengths, no.-of-ways and pitches.
But it ain't cheap. And the Teflon version is even more pricey - though it has better ends.
I'm using it right now for Breadboard to PCB.

You can get SIL housings and crimp individual terminals - but that's fiddly.

I made up a 5+5 DIL adaptor to go from 10 way ribbon to my breadboard.
(Thats 5+5 DIL ==10-way-RIBBON== 5+5 DIL)
Bit of a bodge but it works.
 
hippy

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
One way to use ribbon cable on vero-board and bread-board is to pair-up adjacent wires, 1+2, 3+4 etc these are pins opposite each other on the sockets so no need to cut anything.

To carry 10 signals you'll need 2 x 10-way cables of course, each carrying 5 signals a piece.

Code: 
     .-----.            .-----.
A ---|-o-o |============| o-o-|--- A
B ---|-o-o |============| o-o-|--- B
C ---|-o-o |============| o-o-|--- C
D ---|-o-o |============| o-o-|--- D
E ---|-o-o |============| o-o-|--- E
     `-----'            `-----'
 
T

Tim036

Member
hippy said:
Strip-board is handy for splitting two-row ribbon sockets in two; a careful bit of junior hacksawing and a clean division can be made between the pins ( only 0.1" apart ). I don't know of anything which splits otherwise.
Click to expand...
I use a Dremmel like miniature rotary drill fitted with a cutting disc . (with great care ! )

: )

Tim
 
E

eclectic

Moderator
@Pilko
A possibility

Farnell.com

choose USA

Search using all these words together

connector IDC transition 16WAY

then choose I/O

For some reason, the Farnell site
doesn't retain search finds.

The only problem with Farnell,
is that there are so many connectors!

e
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Yes, I have some of those in my box. Yes, I got them from Farnell.

Most big/pro dev boards use 5+5 headers - maybe one reason because SIL is a pain to obtain? (And less space of course).

I made this grotty adaptor from harwin headers. It goes from 5+5 IDT ribbon connector and straddles th centre of my breadboard to give separate conenctions.
Not pretty, but strong and it works.

If were to do a SIL version I'd do it on PCB. A bit of a faff but will last for years.
 

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BCJKiwi

Senior Member
If a DIP layout is OK then ribbon cable could soldered into a turned pin DIP Socket - the socket then becomes the plug.
 
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