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Thread: any way to extend this flat cable?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    Poland
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    Default any way to extend this flat cable?

    I have this portable video projector which I need to modify the cable lengths of so I can have the PCB farther from the projection system. It is currently on top of this:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    As you can see besides the cables for fans and speakers there are 4 cables, 3 for I'm pretty sure merely powering the red, green and blue high power LEDs (colored accordingly) and one flat cable probably just for the DMD (DLP) chip. The red, green and blue power cables use a standard connector and are not hard to source and extend. The flat cable for the DLP is problematic.

    By the way the projector is a AAXA M6 pico projector. It's probably right now the brightest and highest resolution pico projector (1200 lumens and 1920x1080 resolution). The company sells OEM units but refuses to give any info about the flat cable and how to extend it, only suggests to find "an alternative source" for longer cables.
    Unlike the older versions this one uses a surface mounted FFC cable and I have no idea what connector this is and whether it's a standard or only used by AAXA or Texas Instruments. Does this look familiar to anyone here?

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Click image for larger version. 

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    connector on PCB:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    This is currently the only thing in my way for my project. With older units they had the cables weren't so short so I had more freedom for repositioning the PCB in my own enclosure.

    BTW this is one neat projector, I'll write a review when I reassemble it in my enclosure. The only thing I had issue with was the fan noise.

    Answer: yes the cable might be possible to be lengthened, but it can't go over 15 cm
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20171101_005136.jpg  

    Last edited by Yerkat; 11-03-2017 at 23:23.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Cambridgeshire, England
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    478

    Default

    That's an FFC cable; you'll find it very difficult to extend that without making up boards to adapt to another cable in between.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    Poland
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    Default

    Sure, something like this on both sides would be perfect.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Any ideas where to look and what to look for?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Meridian,MS, USA
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    Default

    Did you try www.alliedelec.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    Poland
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    Default

    What should I be looking for? Nothing comes up by that part number.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Meridian,MS, USA
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    Default

    I think nobleGas is right it will be difficult to find an easy solution.
    but search under FFC some connectors came up, when I tried. I don't no exact connector you need kinda hard to see on that picture, at least for me.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Poland
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    Default

    I can take a DSLR photo of the connector, no problem.
    But to be sure did you click the image twice to open the image file in your browser where you can zoom it to the max resolution?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Orlando, FL
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    381

    Default

    I've got a terrible way to do it, and it got my truck through an inspection to get the airbag light off, but probably not reliable long run!
    Sincerely,
    Ryan Smith
    ScannerMAX Mechanical Engineer
    ryan {at} scannermax.com

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    Poland
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    Default

    uh tell me more!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    41

    Default

    Hey,

    first i see that there are matched pair data busses.
    if you make a cable you need to match the length of the pairs, and probably the impedance, thats needed to reduce the losses/reflections from the cable.
    2. there is a power bus too, there are decupeling caps directly at the connector, maybe the DMD sources high current spikes thru the cable, that means you need thick cables and, if the length is very long, caps at the end of the cable

    3. maybe the signal timing is important, the red/green/blue LEDs are timed perfectly to match the content on the DMD, if the DMD gets the data late because of the long cabeling, then the colors will not match the image.

    I don't know at witch frequency's the DMD is working, maybe 3. is not a problem, but 1. is for sure a problem, the electrical engineer is going to the trouble to design matched pairs (you can see them an the picture of the PCB, the snake like traces to match the length of the pairs), i think you need this too if you make a cable harness.


    the connector is something like this:
    https://www.mouser.de/ds/2/185/en_DF...411-253766.pdf

    But without any dimensions you can not find anything


    Sorry for my englisch.

    Best Regards Farbe

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