For the love of God... soldering to 13 Pin DIN How do you pro solderers solder to this evil hunk of shit? I thought about making an end all be all stick, with different cables. But, soldering to this ass whore has proved to require far more finesse than I have.
I haven't done a din yet, but I've done plenty of D terminals...they suck too. What issue are you having? Just can't get it all together? I mean...having difficulty getting the solder, wire and part together and steady? I suggest holding the wire in your teeth....or getting somebody to help you. My teeth proved useful for D terminals.
To solder D-Type sockets or DIN sockets what you will need is.. A helping hand / Clamp (to hold the socket/plug in place). Good light Decent solder (63 Tin / 37 Lead microtype flux impreganted solder if you can find it is recommended) A needle tip soldering iron (25w or so, although I use a butane gas powered soldering iron as it's better for working on electronicl items) Good wire, pref single strands rather then multi core cable as you'll find it easier to work with (7x0.2 should be fine but try a slightly thicker or thinner one, it should fit easily into the hole / gap of the terminal pins) Good set of wire cutters (your teeth or a pair of scissors are not going to do) Heat shrink (for wire if not using multicore wire) and a Hair Dryer Fibreglass pen or solder brush (optional) Set up your bench / table so everything is to hand and you can see what you are doing. Turn on soldering iron Clean it and then wet it with some solder Get wire, cut a small piece off the end and then strip no more then 3mm off the end Twist wire around so it forms a nice solid piece Using helping hand, hold wire in place Get soldering iron in one hand and solder in the other Tin wire with solder, just a little, don't let it ball and don't leave it for so long that the plastic coating melts off Do this for all piece of wire you need to do Put terminal in helping hand so the terminals face up and use the the other arm to hold the wire in place (after next step) Get fibreglass pen gentlely brush terminal pins to get rid of any oxidation (for gold plated things you don't and shouldn't do this) however a cotton bud soaked in Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) rubbed gentlely over the contacts will get rid of grease and dirt. Put wire into terminal hole, it helps if you do the centre pin if doing DIN plugs, else work left to right. Use solder and soldering iron to melt a little solder over the pin. Remove both, 63/37 solder is good as it melts and sets at basically the same temperature You should have soldered it perfectly Repeat for all wire Feed wire into heat shrink and use a hair dryer to clamp them together. I used to hate DINs until I started to do things properly.
Your method uses a second person and a clamp/vice? In Hawaii, I tried a vice plus some standard cable which was basically impossible to work with. I broke down and bought a pre-harnessed cable that I've got here somewhere. It will work, but will be ugly. I've always toyed w/ the idea of a better solution for my arcade stick... and w/ the wife leaving soon I'll likely mod something, although it will probably be a simple Agetec mod since I don't have tons of time. I think Jamtex's post discouraged me. One guy in HI that used to make superguns (Matt) I'm convinced is a genius. Made such solid cables and devices. I should probably just make two DIN->DB15 converters from the cables I've got and use those, eh?
I'll whack up some pictures when I am feeling better and at work, just to show you how easy it is. You only need a helping hand device (that thing with a heavy base and two crocodile clips), soldering any sockets without something to hold it is just asking for trouble.
