Max distance for cartridge slot relocation on neo geo

Hello all, looking for an answer for the question in the title. Trying to eek out as much distance as possible. Im confident i can get 7~8 inches with 22 awg wire, but i need to know if I can get more somehow.

Thanks for any help.

 

8 inches is the maximum for wires otherwise there is too much interference and resistance in the wires and things don't work properly. For longer lengths you can use shielded cable, up to 100m; however it is important when using shielded cables to connect the ground (ie shielding) to BOTH ends of the cable not just one end - both. Some of the cart relocations I did on Project Unity were a couple of feet apart, so used this method. Don't use 22awg wire, too inflexible - you want flexible cable.

Good shielded cable can be old controllers if you have some.

 

Gah I was hoping to avoid shielded since im doing this in a 4 slot mvs. so itll be 2000 points to solder. Adding shielded cable would be a ton more work to connect ground. But if thats the only way, where can i get enough cable for tjis that wont cost an arm and a leg

 

As I recall, it's more like about 240 connections, it's a lot! On Project Unity, I relocated the cart slot on the NeoGeo to be flat, used fairly short wires and worked great, as you say doing all those wires with shielded cables is more work still, however bear in mind you can do the cables in sections; you'll need a dozen or two shielded lengths of cable however only half a day's work.

 

2000 since I have to do it 4 times -sigh-

So twelve pairs of shielded cable per 120 pins?
I'll give that a shot. From how I have things setup I need a 12" run for slot 4.

Would cat5e cable be good?

Looked up your unity projectcs, good stuff

 

depending on the distance you could use ribbon cable and use double the wires, every second one will be ground. Make a sort of bus bar for the ground wires on both ends, this will reduce cross talk, you wont get the same length as fully shielded but it should work for most sane builds...

Round ATA 100 cable would work

is that 12 inch or 12 feet? (sorry I'm metric)

 

Each slot has a different distance. Slot 1 would be about 4 inches. While slot 4 is about 12 inches. ive got tons of 18 inch 40pin ide sitting around. (and a lot of cat5e rolls)

From what youre saying would I be connecting every second wire to a ground line on the mvs board?

 

OK so say you have 40 connections to make, you would use 80 wire ribbon cable. Every second wire in the 80 wire ribbon cable will be ground, this reduces cross talk between the data lines

 

I wouldn't use IDE cable for that personally, far more work and the wires are far thinner and less flexible (as a ribbon). Also, when you modify IDE cables there is a risk of snapping the wires inside the cable as the wires are thin and brittle, which isn't good.

 

Stranded ribbon cable is just as flexible and strong as any other wire.



Now come to think of it you could use off the shelf 80 wire IDE cable as is, no cutting..

get a bunch of male 40 pin IDE sockets and solder into the board, 6 per slot, number them and do the same on the edge connector side (or just directly wire them in..



NEO Motherboard -> 6x Male 40 pin IDE connectors -> Cart Edge connector slot, connected by 6 runs of 80 wire IDE cable with Female 40 pin connectors on one end..

You would then have a nice clean, easy to repair job

 

I was actually going to do something like that until I got concerns over how things the wire is.
That won't cause issues over a 1foot distance?

 

It will be fine, after all IDE cable was/is used in PC's. I'd still use the method I suggested especially if there is any voltage down the lines, controller cable could go to perhaps .5amp or a bit more, whereas IDE is probably lower. As always, try the method you prefer, if it doesn't work try a different one.

 

I'll try 40pin ide first since I have more than enough of it to complete this project. If it doesnt work then I will get 10pair shielded cable, enough for 2 slots. If its a choice between buying tons of 80pin ide and tons of shielded cable, ill go with shielded cable. I thinik IDE should be fine for the first 2 slots in my project.

Thanks for help/suggestions.

Edit:

This product is going to be a game changer for my project. I'm tearing up

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M5WLZDW?refRID=K79VY3KJAZD5QVTA13C7&ref_=pd_rhf_eetyp_p_img_1