RIB cables - OEM or ?

[intuity]

I scored a BNIB RLN4008E on eBay fo $30, unopened box. Until now, I've kept my MaraTracs, MaxTracs, and Spectras happy with a sturdy hand-me-down RIB interface board without a chassis, so it's kind of a new thing for me to have The Real Thing(TM) instead of having to DIY it all.

Anyway, looking at my collection of rag-tag, red-headed, left-handed step-children that occasionally have served me somewhat decently over the years (and only bricked 3 MaxTrac 300's and a MT2000) I realized I should probably find the actual PC-to-RIB cable, instead of the way I have it now, which is via a length of shielded cable with the relevant pins soldered directly to the 25-pin serial port connector on the motherboard of my programming machine. For those who may be interested to know how deep this rabbit hole goes, I secured to the board to the computer's case with a puddle of silicone adhesive and it's worked that way ever since.

Should I, if they aren't NLA, buy new cable assemblies from MOL, or from the guy on eBay who makes them using Amphenol connectors? I would normally just replace the board I have now with the new OEM one but I did this years ago and was not very good at soldering yet... Sort of why the cable is soldered to the motherboard's contacts directly ... But that walk down memory lane is for another day.

If the cables aren't NLA from Mother M, do I just look on MOL for them by the number, or call them, or just keep searching eBay?

 

[MTS2000des]

If you are just programming (and not tuning/aligning) there is no need to pay for the OEM RIB to radio cables. Good quality ones (like the ones your referencing made with Amphenol connectors) are fine, and since you have the "real deal" RIB, provided you've got a good PC/OS setup, you're in business to support legacy radios for a long time.
Now if you want to get into tuning/alignment, you'll need the real deal cables along with an RLN4460x, service monitor, etc.

 

[intuity]

by mentioning that the interface I've been using is potted to the case of the programming computer in silicone and its interface cable is soldered to the motherboard, it should have been implied that neither tuning, nor alignment are concerns of mine

I had a service monitor for the longest time, it was one of the older older ones built for Motorola. Was a nice conversation piece when people saw it and noted they were unaware Motorola made space heaters

 

[marcotor]

Should I, if they aren't NLA, buy new cable assemblies from MOL, or from the guy on eBay who makes them using Amphenol connectors?

If you're speaking of MRE, those cables and the others they offer are rock solid and as good as anything OEM you could find.

 

[merlin]

Well, I need to find an OEM RIB board to read/write my MDX.
Schematics in hand, sure, I could build one, but a lot of work there.
Boards I found start about $150. (genuine Harris)
If you can find genuine OEM, go for it. I would just stay away from the cheap Chinese knock-offs.
73s

 

[jim202]

Some comments here. The DB connectors needed for this project are not that costly. They are available from several sources. You can also buy either the plastic shell or the metal shell to go over the DB25 male and female connectors from the electronics stores. The Internet is your best friend to locate sources for the parts.

Making the needed cables is finding a shielded cable with enough wires in it. Use the same search for a source. The radios use both DB15 and DB25 connectors for programming most radios. Depending on the brand of the radio, it might even use a LAN type connectors on the mobiles. Can't help you on the software. But it might be worth trying to find a local ham radio person mentor to help you.

I make all my interface cables to go from the computer to the RIB and Rib to computer. Plus all the radio interface cables from radio to RIB. It only takes the parts and some time with a soldering iron. If you need another computer, start hitting all the computer repair stores around you. Don't be a bull in a china closet, but many of these computer repair stores generally have a hard time getting rid of customer computers that were traded in or didn't want to pay for the repair of the.

I have found one store that works well with me and generally says to take what I want out of the stack on the floor or what he has lugged into his storage out back. I have got both junk and some fine computers from this store. The owner pulls the hard drive out of them though. So you will probably need some small 80 GB SATA and IDE drives to load windows onto. This will tell you if the computer will run or not. If not, just the parts in the computer are worth the efforts you have put into it. You get a power supply, RAM boards, a CD drive and maybe a floppy drive. Plus all the mounting hardware, board jumpers and the case sheet metal for other projects.

Not only have I been able to get the computers, but keyboards of different types, mice and good displays. Maybe not all of it works, but you can't beat the price for the effort and possible parts you can end up with.

 

[ElroyJetson]

I buy Motorola OEM cables. They've never failed me. I can't say that for aftermarket cables.

Buying cheap eventually costs you more. Or, buy once, cry once. Or, the bitter taste of low quality persists long after the sweetness of low price is long forgotten.

Hurrying always makes the job take longer.

Shortcuts take you farther off track.,

A closed mouth gathers no foot.

Those are four axioms I live by.