John G wrote:
Tim Wescott used his keyboard to write :
On 10/21/2010 05:08 PM, Karl Townsend wrote:

As another said this will probably be a standard ribbon cable for you.
half the conductors are simply drain/grounds/shields in between the
signal wires. IOW the usual ribbon cable for interconnecting floppys
and hard drives in you computer.

So how long do you need the cables?

You just gave me a great idea. I'll get four short ribbon cables and
make a holding bracket on the side of the computer. The I/O card plugs
the cables directly and they are a PITA to disconnect. This will get
it outside the case.

!!!! But, now I'll have to look for a male connector, surely no big
deal. !!!!

Don't count on that, but good luck!

This may seem very basic but I have seen it ignored.

Ribbon cables are very fragile and should never be used "outside the
box".
They are great between fixed components, eg. disk drives inside
computers but it does not take much physical activity to fracture a
wire or 2.

Depends on how ham-fisted your customers are. I once worked on a commercial
product that had 24" ribbon cables out the back with a DIP plug at the end.

They're OK, as long as you don't use them to tow a car or whatever. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich