So I’ve decided to make my own GB1 ribbon cable, and I plan on doing it a little differently from all the others who’ve done it so far. I’ve looked at the referenece pics a thousand times and I’m definitely seeing something different from everyone. Anyway, the point of this post is to ask everyone who’s made GB1 cable where in the hell they got their wires from. It seems like finding individual wires, of a large enough gauge, in multiple colors, is like finding Jimmy F***ing Hoffa…so please, if you have constructed GB1 ribbon cable, please PM me and help me out!
I don’t necessarily think anybody’s “missing” anything. I mainly disagree with the whole “spacer” idea. I’m seeing individual, light blue wires in between purple and blue, and between the two blues on the right side. I want to try and make a cable this way and see what it looks like. I want to stress that I’m not discrediting anyone’s work, especially those who are selling these. I appreciate dudes who take the time to make stuff that’s not readily available because it helps the community. I just want to try something new and see how it goes.
I wasn’t trying to start anything, I was just interested in what you saw. We all sometimes miss things or find small over looked details that we thought were one thing but became another.
If you have any hi-def screen caps I’d totally be interested in seeing them.
Sorry, it’s hard to tell a dude’s tone in text. That’s the real bitch of the internet. Anyway, I took the close-ups from the “equipment” section and did some mock-up work in Paint as far as color sequence and I think it looks pretty close. I’m gonna pop the DVD into my laptop later and see if I can capture some better pics. This whole GB1 ribbon cable thing has become such a frustrating stalemate, I just wanna see if I can help ease the collective suffering.
The spacer thing has been brought up before more than once, the spacers are there, not coloured blue or grey wires. There’s been confirmation by someone that has actually seen them in person. Also the photos show the spacer material folded over and if it was solid wires all the way across it would not fit into the clamp on the booster frame.
Where did you guys go to get ribbon cable? I thought i could find an older printer that wasn’t being used at Goodwill, etc and rip the cable off there. But, finding an old printer with that kinda of ribbon cable wasn’t easy (try damn near impossible in this town). Then someone told me to get an old power supply from a motherboard of a fried computer. Is that where all of you guys got your cable? On my old pack when i built it the first time, I got so frustrated I just ended up coloring a rainbow of colors on a piece of paper, wrapped it in packing tape and twisted it so that it fit almost just right but…it looks too much like thats how i did it. So obviously paper it looks like ■■■■. Im trying to fix that now (and the whole rest of my pack) but I need help. Where did you guys get it?
And thanks to Ty Fire and AJ quick for letting me know about this place.
I made my ribbon cable by buying a hard drive IDE cable at Fry’s, then using colored sharpies in the sequence listed on the ribbon info page. I think the cable cost less than 5 bucks. Just be sure to grab a long, wide one. Then pop off the plastic pin connectors. The first one I bought was 18 inches and was too short.
How is that? The GB2 cable is solid wires all the way across, braided even, yet it fits. As does the GB2 cable someone made which is a bunch of wires sealed in a plastic jacket which is probably significantly thicker than the real cable was.
Well, the GB2 cable used considerably smaller wires. The GB1 cable wires border on 1/8", if I remember right. I’m not even sure the GB2 cable wires hit 1/32". It’s a pretty big and noticeable difference.
But, regardless of the size of the wires and whether they’d fit in the clamp, the reference photos, such as the Omni photo, clearly show a flat surface, that goes across most of the space. The only thing that I will say is that the edge of one has a black wire on one side, while the other spacer has two black wires, one on either side.
It switched it’s facing depending upon which pack you were looking at in the film, if I remember correctly. But, short answer, yes, it’s been discussed.
I bought my ribbon from AJ, cuz AJ’s cool like that. Interesting how this is particular forum is devoted to being as overly specific as possible about a relatively small detail. And I thought I was OCD…impressive. I wouldn’t care enough myself, but kudos to anyone who’ll go the extra mile.
You’re right… I just checked. Ray and Egon’s packs have the rainbow bit at the bottom. Peter and Winston have theirs at the top. Which is interesting, because this coincides with the direction in which their cyclotron lights move. Peter and Winston’s go counterclockwise. Ray and Egon’s go clockwise.
Ok, here’s the thing: I started this post to try and find some wire so I can build a fairly accurate cable based on what I see not necessarily what it’s been confirmed to be. That’s a personal preference of mine. Personally, I see solid wires all the way across. Now, of course, when I was told point blank that a reliable source has said there’s spacers, then sure, I started to see spacers. But that’s perception, that’s how it works. I’m not saying the source is a liar, in fact they’re probably 100% right. I just feel like I want my pack to look like what I see on film. And honestly, if I go to a Con with my custom cable, and the only difference between that and someone else’s gb1 cable is blue wires instead of gray/clear spacers, then I’ll be just fine with that. Plus, the GB community is a nice enough group of people that nobody would call me out anyway. That’s why I like this site and this hobby. It’s all relative. Anyway, I posted this reply hoping that nobody would read it and be like “wow, this guy’s a dick” because that’s not the case. Actually, I’m really happy. I recieved PM’s from everyone I had asked and I got tons of response on this thread which is awesome. So thanks to everyone for getting involved. Without opinions and debate, this would be…well, Cuba I guess.
I figured out that “automotive wire” is the way to go, and stumbled upon a site, riwire.com that sells “primary plastic wire with spiral trace” and they have solid white with colored traces, but I’m not sure if I can get all the colors. I’m going to email the guy and check it out.