GhettoHardware.com - News

Today I decided I would finally replace my mess of extension cords that connects my information supertower to my Infocus X1 Video Projector. So, I'm planning an order right now for 2 25' m-m Video cables, one that comes out of my Media Center PC, and goes into the projector, and a second that goes from the projector's video out to the KVM, such that I can see the video Signal on my LCD when I don't feel like wasting bulb life time. I thought I should also get a s-video and an RCA cable so I can use those inputs as well. Now all of these come in 25' pieces through any wire retailer such as cableswholesale.com BUT, USB doesn't get longer than 15' because the spec doesn't allow it to be any longer without a active repeater. WELL SCREW SPEC, I want a 25" usb cable and I want it now.

So, I hacked open a cheap wannabe transparent iMac-looking cable and did what I alwasy do, grab some ethernet cable outta the spindle and went at it. USB is green, white (data i think) and Red, black. Ethernet is orange, white orange, blue, white blue, green white green, and brown, whie brown. I decided to cluster up all the white-color's and solder them to the shielding of the usb cable, as the twisting of a grounded signal shoud minimize interference, much as grounding around the cables in the center works. I then connected usb green to cat5 green, usb white to cat5 blue, usb red to cat5 orange and usb black to cat5 brown. I did all this on one end, having smartly remembered to slide some heat-shrink tubin on before soldering, as once you've connected the wire, it's impossible to get it over the usb-connector on the end.

then it was time for the other end, after a few hour break to play wallyball. So i jumped right in, having mastered my use fo two soldering irons to bring me up to a respectable 30w instead of just one's 15w. (i have dinky irons for fine electronics, not for soldering a blob of braided wire together.)

But! Dumbass me forgot the heatshrink tubing. grrmbl.
so i decided to keep being clever, so i sliced the one piece of heatshrink i already attached in half, and slid half of it the lenght of the cat5 to the new join. It wasn't enough to totally cover it, but coupled with some elec tape its sufficieint.

(and yes, at this point I tested the cable ant it worked fine)

And now the heatshrink debacle part two.

I don't have a heat gun. So my first try was to put the wires into a ziploc bag, with most fo the cable stickign out but just the sections of heatshrink in the bag. I then dipped the bag into boiling water. Success, no, but it did shrink a little bit it seems.

As we speak the toaster oven is climbing to 500 degrees. Will this be the answer to the heat-shrink tubing shrinking at home project? Who knows, but it sure is fun wallowing around in my own incompotence sometimes.