Changing the Lilliput Din connector to a ribbon cable...

The Grinch · 08-09-2004, 11:39 AM

In search for a solution to getting rid of that funny din connector because of my in-dash kit issue, I thought about changing it to a ribbon cable. I saw a thread here where the guy had done just that and it looked like it worked. I'm just wondering if there would be any kind of interference issues with running 8 or 10 inches of ribbon cable? The ribbon cable would be carrying both the VGA and touch screen data. The din cable would end up wiring up to the end of it.

The Grinch · 08-10-2004, 12:55 AM

No one knows? Hmmm, I guess I will have to be the guinea pig then. lol

darkhalo · 08-10-2004, 02:22 AM

i did it when i built my first indash mod. I used an old floppy cable and ran the vga cables along with the 2 rca composit inputs. i don't remember how many cables it was exactly but it worked just fine. there is no reason why you would get inaterfierance.

this is the only pic of my project i could find.

The Grinch · 08-10-2004, 09:33 AM

Thanks for the reply. I think this will completely solve my wiring issue. The only fear I have is the ribbon cable bunching up side, but I think I can get it to work.

The Grinch · 08-11-2004, 12:07 AM

Ok, I took the plunge today and replaced that thick video cable that was jamming up the in-dash kit with a floppy drive ribbon cable. I've got pics if anyone wants to see. (I haven't uploaded to the PC yet.

Everything went pretty smooth and the monitor is still alive. But one thing I noticed is that the picture doesn't seem quite as crisp as before. It looks like I'm getting a little ghosting. I also noticed some very faint diagonal lines when the screen is black (like a DOS screen). I'm wondering if the 28 guage from the ribbon cable is not quite heafty enough to carry a good clean signal. Can anyone comment that has a little experience?

lawrence · 08-11-2004, 12:13 AM

may try a space between the monitor cable with one unused lead and then ground the unused lead.

--------------------- vga
------------------------------ground
---------------------vga
-----------------------------ground
---------------------vga
-----------------------------ground
-----------------------------ground
----------------------power
----------------------ground

may provide added shilding for cross talk on wires

The Grinch · 08-11-2004, 12:58 AM

That's an idea. It will definately widen my ribbon cable. I was hoping to not have to go that route.

Anyhow, here's a bunch of pics.

The Grinch · 08-11-2004, 10:29 AM

I got to try my screen in daylight today and I noticed that it is also unusually dim. I'm not sure if that's due to the 28 gauge wire from the ribbon cable or not, but I'm not happy with the results. I think I will try the suggestion above and maybe try to find something better than 28 gauge.

Does anyone else have suggestions?

darkhalo · 08-11-2004, 11:00 AM

i think its all in your head man, all screens look ****ty in the sunlight. Did you ever test your original lilliput in the sunlight?

It looks like you did a good soldering job.

The only thing i did differently than you is that i solderd the ribon cable directly to the controller board.

hope this helps

The Grinch · 08-11-2004, 01:34 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by darkhalo

i think its all in your head man, all screens look ****ty in the sunlight. Did you ever test your original lilliput in the sunlight?

Yes, I have tested it in sunlight before. Today I had a bright white t-shirt on and that might have played a roll.

Some of it might be in my head, but I can tell that the clarity has suffered slightly. As I mentioned earlier, when the image on the screen is black, you can see a couple of diagonal lines going through the page. I don't ever remember seeing them before. And there is a bit of ghosting that wasn't there before.

The reason I didn't solder the ribbon cable to the board was because I didn't have enough slack. I've actually bought 4 feet of coloured ribbon cable today, and I'll probably swap it over to that soon.

I'm also thinking of doubling up on the VGA signal to provide a larger pipe. Comments?

--------------------- vga ]____
--------------------- vga ]
------------------------------ground
--------------------- vga ]____
--------------------- vga ]
-----------------------------ground
--------------------- vga ]____
--------------------- vga ]
-----------------------------ground

...and in an attempt to make even more work for myself, I'm also thinking of getting a better VGA cable, and run the touch screen USB via it's own cable. I'm probably creating more work for myself, but I like to tinker.

CdRsKuLL · 08-12-2004, 04:45 PM

I did one ages ago.. its been scrapped now.. info is below

http://www.cdrpro.co.uk/carputer/lilliput.htm

cheers

CdR