HP-IL cable clones?

[Martin Hepperle]

(01-12-2015 02:37 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  Hello Martin!

[...]

NB: Did you by any chance study Aerospace Engineering in Stuttart in the early 1980ies?

No, I did not study in Stuttart - but in Stuttgart, starting in 1979, and indeed Aerospace Engineering ;-). More by PM.

Martin

[Katie Wasserman]

(01-12-2015 10:23 AM)Martin Hepperle Wrote:  Well, here is an update to this thread. As promised I have written an article of how to make your own HP-Il cables.
You will find it under http://www.mh-aerotools.de/hp.

I can also place a copy here on this web site in the articles section, if this is of interest.

If there is enough interest (say, parts for more than 50 cables) I could also offer kits consisting of the required parts. This would allow to reduce the relative importance of shipping costs of the individually sourced parts.

Martin

Wow, very nice work!!!

Those connector pins are incredibly expensive, but it's good that they still make them. Have you tried to find cheaper alternatives?

[Dave Frederickson]

(01-11-2015 03:43 AM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  ... prices are still around $2.50USD per pin.

I misspoke. The supplier Martin has identified in the U.S., PEI Genesis, has the sockets for $1.09 USD and the pins for $1.43.

[Martin Hepperle]

(01-12-2015 06:12 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  [...]
Those connector pins are incredibly expensive, but it's good that they still make them. Have you tried to find cheaper alternatives?

Katie,
they have a high price, but as I mentioned in my paper they are of high quality and very delicate if you have them in hand (especially the male pins). On the other hand the typical sub-D connector pins are probably produced in quantities of millions per day so that they can be much more low cost. Also, they are much thicker and simpler in design.

For me the "shock" came when I ordered them as the shipping costs were 25€ so that it does not make sense to oder just enough pins for a single cable.
I only looked "half-heartedly" for replacements as I want to keep any original device connectors and cables undamaged. Otherwise one could replace the whole cabling system by e.g. LAN or USB cables. But that was not my intention.

Martin

[Katie Wasserman]

(01-13-2015 11:54 AM)Martin Hepperle Wrote:  

(01-12-2015 06:12 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  [...]
Those connector pins are incredibly expensive, but it's good that they still make them. Have you tried to find cheaper alternatives?

For me the "shock" came when I ordered them as the shipping costs were 25€ so that it does not make sense to oder just enough pins for a single cable.
I only looked "half-heartedly" for replacements as I want to keep any original device connectors and cables undamaged. Otherwise one could replace the whole cabling system by e.g. LAN or USB cables. But that was not my intention.

Of course! You'd need to keep compatibility with the old connectors so that users can mix HP cables and yours and not need some sort of adapter to convert from HP jacks built into the devices to your cables.

[Hans Brueggemann]

just as a short heads-up to those who wish to make HP-IL cable clones using martin's 3D files, i bit the bullett and ordered five pairs of cable headers (not the panel headers) from TRINCKLE in plain white sintered PA. besides from being very accurately printed, the mechanical mating quality of the headers (clone-to-clone as well as clone-to-original) is nothing less than perfect and should make for excellent HP-IL cable replacements.
looking at the intricate structure of the sockets, i really wonder whether they can be done with FDM rather than sintering to achieve the required quality.
bottom line, hats off and BIG thank-you to martin for his fine CAD work, though i'm kinda missing the famous and widespread "MH" quality trade mark on the parts...

cheers,
hans

[anetzer]

(01-12-2015 10:23 AM)Martin Hepperle Wrote:  If there is enough interest (say, parts for more than 50 cables) I could also offer kits consisting of the required parts.

I would be interested in a couple of these, say five or a few more. Please let us know, if things become earnest...


Thank you!

a.n.

[Nate Martin]

(01-12-2015 10:23 AM)Martin Hepperle Wrote:  Well, here is an update to this thread. As promised I have written an article of how to make your own HP-Il cables.
You will find it under http://www.mh-aerotools.de/hp.

I can also place a copy here on this web site in the articles section, if this is of interest.

If there is enough interest (say, parts for more than 50 cables) I could also offer kits consisting of the required parts. This would allow to reduce the relative importance of shipping costs of the individually sourced parts.

Martin

Very cool, I already have the FRAM module, a PIL-Box is on the way and I was concerned about having to cut a HP-IL cable that I started down the road of 3D modeling the connector, but this looks like a good option...email sent