Analog / Digital IO Connectors

[Aidan F. Browne]

What methods have teams used for physically connecting to the Analog and Digital ports on the RC?

I seem to remember a drawing that showed the pin spacing, but I can't find it at IFI. I also remember some discussion on CD at one point, but I can't find that either... maybe I'm just having one of those days.

(I don't have immediate access to an RC or I would measure... )

Any tips would be appreciated -- Thanks!

Aidan

[steven114]

We take old speed controller data cables and snip off the male end, and then solder on whatever we need.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by steven114

We take old speed controller data cables and snip off the male end, and then solder on whatever we need.

Yep... cutting PWM cables is the easiest way. They are a bit pricey at $5 a piece from IFI, but they seem more reliable than putting something together by hand.

As far as the connector size, I'm almost certain that the pins are .100" spaced. Anyone wanna verify this, in case I too am having one of those days?

[Mark McLeod]

I'll confirm the .1" spacing on the pins.

We build our own cables usually with the standard hobby connectors and covers. This year we're using individual covers during the build, but switching the cables/connectors to block covers the last week.

[BrianBSL]

Originally Posted by jgannon

Yep... cutting PWM cables is the easiest way. They are a bit pricey at $5 a piece from IFI, but they seem more reliable than putting something together by hand.

As far as the connector size, I'm almost certain that the pins are .100" spaced. Anyone wanna verify this, in case I too am having one of those days?

I would disagree on spliced cables being more reliable. With the right tools and parts you can make cables equal in quality to IFI's cables.

You pretty much have 3 or 4 choices on connectors - Molex, AMP, standard Servo type, and IDC type. The IDC tyle require no special tools (although they are designed for use with a real punchdown tool), and are great for prototyping but i would not recommend them for competition use. I've found the AMP housings to be too large sideways, and the servo connectors are more expensive than they should be, therefore we use the molex ones. You can do a search for the part #, I believe they are something like c-grid SL. The only problem with them are the male pins are longer than standard JR servo cables. (But you wont use the male pins for connecting to the analog/digital IO's, only if you make your own PWM cables)