Ribbon cable tester? Does such a thing exist?

[jasonM]

Hi,
I have a 50 pin ribbon cable that is carrying a large number of
signals from various hardware components in a medical device I am
trying to test. I'm looking for a device/connector that would allow
me to gain direct access to any one of the wires/pins in the cable, so
I could set the voltage on any pin. Furthermore, this ideal device/
connector would allow me to disconnect any of the wires in the cable
whenever I wanted. Does anyone know if such a device exists and who
makes it?


Thanks,

Jason Mazzotta

 

[Eeyore]

Hi,
I have a 50 pin ribbon cable that is carrying a large number of
signals from various hardware components in a medical device I am
trying to test. I'm looking for a device/connector that would allow
me to gain direct access to any one of the wires/pins in the cable, so
I could set the voltage on any pin. Furthermore, this ideal device/
connector would allow me to disconnect any of the wires in the cable
whenever I wanted. Does anyone know if such a device exists and who
makes it?

You need a 'breakout box'. Try googling.

Graham

 

[Radiosrfun]

You need a 'breakout box'. Try googling.

Graham

I'm not into "breakout boxes" - never had a need for one or shopped for one
to know of any differences in size, style, hook up, etc.... I "did" end up
with one from a Computer repair business buy out - which is in a small hard
shell case - has some jumpers with it, etc. Uses either AAs or a 9 vdc
battery I believe. Been looking to sell it off - for a reasonable offer -
plus shipping.

Lou

 

[Joel Kolstad]

I have a 50 pin ribbon cable that is carrying a large number of
signals from various hardware components in a medical device I am
trying to test. I'm looking for a device/connector that would allow
me to gain direct access to any one of the wires/pins in the cable, so
I could set the voltage on any pin. Furthermore, this ideal device/
connector would allow me to disconnect any of the wires in the cable
whenever I wanted. Does anyone know if such a device exists and who
makes it?

3M makes something that will accomplish this: One was just a male to female
connector, about an inch long, available in the common pin counts (26, 40, 50,
etc.) with dual-row 0.1"-spaced pins. Each circuit had a little slide switch
which connected or disconnected the signal. The other thing they made was a
very short (~1/4") male to female connector with another male header sticking
out of the side, 90 degrees to the main body. This allowed you to either hook
up a scrobe probe or multimeter to measure voltages, or connect voltages

Ah, here they are: http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T072/P0442.pdf -- 3M
"Intra-Connector" and "Intra-Switch."

---Joel