I have a SCART cable (21 pin, 21 wires all connected, but many of the same colour) - I want to attach an 8 pin DIN connector to it for use on sega genesis. Is there any way (other than buying an expensive cable pre made) to either find the correct wires to attach to the din plug or perhaps disconnect the unused pins I don't need and attempt to solder /splice wires of the same colour together to get around this? I have the SCART diagrams I need, and can order the caps and resistors etc, I have all the bits, half a cheap scart lead but just a cable full of wires, that I know 7 of which, are required! Any advice appreciated...
Cool. However I currently have 21 wires, 6 blue, 3 green, 5 red, 5 brown, 1 white and 1 black ground wire! How do I know which wire is connected to which pin at the other end? Excuse my lack of understanding!
Wow, ok. I can understand the diagram perfectly. I could follow it say if I was wiring it from scratch but I have a cable which already has all the wires connected and fed through- I seem to be unable to word my question properly. Only 7 wires (of the 21 needed), so how does one determine which wire is for what? I can't just rip wires out individually, can I? Forgive me for saying, but everyone learns by asking those who already know and understand. Hence why I'm rather apologetically seeking advice from experts - we all start somewhere
set your multimeter to continuity mode and touch the probe to a wire and touch the other probe to a pin till it beeps ,repeat as needed
I was afraid it was something this simple, so very grateful to you both! Wow, learning sure is fun. Only got my multimeter yesterday
I have located the correct wires. At the risk of further scrutiny what do I do with the wires I am not using? I have them split up now, so should I just tape up each end? Thanks
I'm not sure what I would suggest to do with the unused wires. You would want to keep them from shorting with used wires, and also with the other unused wires. I can't imagine it'd be very easy to pull any extra wires out of the cable, if it can be done at all. Taping the ends would work, but it'd end up looking messy, I'd think. You could also try using little pieces of shrink tubing on each end. I think it would be easier to start with a straight through 8-pin DIN cable and attach a SCART plug to one end, rather than starting with a straight through SCART cable and trying to attach a DIN plug to one end. You'd only have the wires you need, and not have to worry about extra wires. The resulting cable wouldn't be as thick and would be more flexible and it'd most likely look nicer, too.
you can either just cut the unused wires away at both or one end, or leave them connected as only the wires you need will be used at the DIN end, just make sure you connect up all the grounds. you can actually pull out the unused pins on a scart connector also.
Thats great, and thanks for the excellent suggestion. Synrgy, I had that idea last night, great ideas, Appreciated guys
Try not to double/triple post so much - we have an edit button Yes, it is as simple as using a multimeter to trace wires. However, you really shouldn't use a fully wired cable. Firstly, your initial comments lead me to think this was a cheap SCART cable. They're not good. Secondly, the extra thickness of the cable may not be accomodated by the DIN connector - you want the sheathing INSIDE the connector. Thirdly, the more wires you have in there, the more crosstalk you might suffer. You can pick up multi-core cable from any decent electronics supplier, along with a SCART connector. Well, the SCART might be a little harder to come by in the US.
