Repairing an S-Video cable

[M.Joshi]

Hello,

I am trying to repair a professional S-Video cable. I replaced
connector on one end as one of the pins had broken however, I'm no
able to get continuity to one of the signal pins on the other end.

I have checked the solder joints on the new connector and the
check-out fine.

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might b
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even i
is just placed nearby.

Any advice/tips would be grateful.


P.S. Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propagand
posts on this thread? It seems that it is not being moderate
regularly


--
M.Joshi

 

[George Jetson]

"M.Joshi" <M.Joshi.4d5f8b6@diybanter.com> wrote in message
news:M.Joshi.4d5f8b6@diybanter.com...

Hello,

I am trying to repair a professional S-Video cable. I replaced a
connector on one end as one of the pins had broken however, I'm not
able to get continuity to one of the signal pins on the other end.

I have checked the solder joints on the new connector and they
check-out fine.

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables)
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even if
is just placed nearby.

Any advice/tips would be grateful.


P.S. Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propaganda
posts on this thread? It seems that it is not being moderated
regularly?




--
M.Joshi

Try checking capacitance between "pairs" from both ends.

 

[Gareth Magennis]

"M.Joshi" <M.Joshi.4d5f8b6@diybanter.com> wrote in message
news:M.Joshi.4d5f8b6@diybanter.com...

Hello,

I am trying to repair a professional S-Video cable. I replaced a
connector on one end as one of the pins had broken however, I'm not
able to get continuity to one of the signal pins on the other end.

I have checked the solder joints on the new connector and they
check-out fine.

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables)
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even if
is just placed nearby.

Any advice/tips would be grateful.


P.S. Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propaganda
posts on this thread? It seems that it is not being moderated
regularly?




--
M.Joshi

Can you explain why you want to go to all this trouble rather than just buy
another one?

http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/S-Video_Cables.php?referrer=google&gclid=COiLoduLuJwCFZ0U4wodNDlhoQ



With regards the advertising/religious propaganda thing - most Usenet groups
are not moderated, this is one of them. You really haven't done your
homework, have you.

 

[Dave Platt]

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables)
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even if
is just placed nearby.

One method might be to use time-domain reflectometry. Transmit a
fast-rising pulse into one pin on the cable, while monitoring this pin
with a fast oscilloscope which can trigger on the rising edge. See
how long it takes before you see the effect of a reflection from an
open circuit (the voltage at the pin will jump) or a short (the
voltage will drop).

Figure an in-cable transmission rate of somewhere on the very rough
order of a nanosecond per foot. To work out the actual position of
the break, you'll need to know the end-to-end transmission-and-
reflection time (e.g. from one of the wires which still works) as well
as the end-to-break time. Divide the latter by the former, multiply
by the length of the cable, and that'll be where the break is.

P.S. Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propaganda
posts on this thread? It seems that it is not being moderated
regularly?

This isn't a moderated newsgroup, and it isn't specific to
radiobanter. It's an unmoderated USENET newsgroup, fed to radiobanter
by a gateway of some sort.

Some of the better USENET providers do filter out / drop the spam
postings, and quite a few individuals deliberately drop postings from
spam-origin sites (and/or from radiobanter itself).

--
Dave Platt <dplatt@radagast.org> AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

 

[William Sommerwerck]

If pro S cables are anything like consumer S cables, I'd toss it and get a
new one.

The S cable is the perfect complement to a VHS recorder: The connectors are
too small and "fragile", and worse, the coax (?) is so stiff that it's
usually impossible to position it in a way that minimizes strain on the
connectors.

I have a Cantares UHJ decoder that uses an S cable to connect the power
supply to the unit. I hate to think what will happen if the cable or
connectors ever break. It's repairable, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Has anyone ever seen a "limp" S cable?

 

[Gareth Magennis]

"Dave Platt" <dplatt@radagast.org> wrote in message
news:5e26m6-ruu.ln1@radagast.org...

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables)
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even if
is just placed nearby.

One method might be to use time-domain reflectometry. Transmit a
fast-rising pulse into one pin on the cable, while monitoring this pin
with a fast oscilloscope which can trigger on the rising edge. See
how long it takes before you see the effect of a reflection from an
open circuit (the voltage at the pin will jump) or a short (the
voltage will drop).

Figure an in-cable transmission rate of somewhere on the very rough
order of a nanosecond per foot. To work out the actual position of
the break, you'll need to know the end-to-end transmission-and-
reflection time (e.g. from one of the wires which still works) as well
as the end-to-break time. Divide the latter by the former, multiply
by the length of the cable, and that'll be where the break is.

I'm sorry, thats quite the most ridiculous suggestion of repairing a 10
dollar cable I have ever heard.

 

[Jerry G.]

Your best and most reliable procedure is to go out and get another
cable. The process to find the break can be long, and then you may end
up having a splice in the middle of the cable somwhere.

Jerry G.






On Aug 22, 11:56 am, M.Joshi <M.Joshi.4d5f...@diybanter.com> wrote:

Hello,

I am trying to repair a professional S-Video cable.  I replaced a
connector on one end as one of the pins had broken however, I'm not
able to get continuity to one of the signal pins on the other end.

I have checked the solder joints on the new connector and they
check-out fine.

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables)
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even if
is just placed nearby.

Any advice/tips would be grateful.

P.S.  Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propaganda
posts on this thread?  It seems that it is not being moderated
regularly?

--
M.Joshi

 

[Allodoxaphobia]

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:26:59 +0100, Gareth Magennis wrote:

"M.Joshi" <M.Joshi.4d5f8b6@diybanter.com> wrote:

P.S. Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propaganda
posts on this thread? It seems that it is not being moderated
regularly?

With regards the advertising/religious propaganda thing - most Usenet groups
are not moderated, this is one of them. You really haven't done your
homework, have you.

He has no idea that he is being channeled from radiobanter to usenet.
He probably has no idea what usenet is.

 

[msg]

William Sommerwerck wrote:

If pro S cables are anything like consumer S cables, I'd toss it and get a
new one.

The S cable is the perfect complement to a VHS recorder: The connectors are
too small and "fragile", and worse, the coax (?) is so stiff that it's
usually impossible to position it in a way that minimizes strain on the
connectors.

I have a Cantares UHJ decoder that uses an S cable to connect the power
supply to the unit. I hate to think what will happen if the cable or
connectors ever break. It's repairable, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Has anyone ever seen a "limp" S cable?

I can't imagine a 'pro' S cable; I just spent a few days making a bunch of
Y-adapters in both genders to adapt the S connectors on gear to dual RG-59
BNC cable runs. Better gear provides a Y and C BNC connector rather than
a DIN style S connector.

I would urge the O.P. to adapt his gear in a similar way; cut the bad
cable and use the good end as a start in making the first adapter.
I imagine that there are pre-made adapters available, but the cost
and delay in shipment may more than justify the time involved in making
the adapters (as I have found).

BTW, my spell checker suggests replacing Sommerwerck with Noncommercial

Michael

 

[William Sommerwerck]

BTW, my spell checker suggests replacing Sommerwerck
with Noncommercial

Spell checkers can be a source of great fun. Some years ago I entered a
Velamints slogan contest. When I spell-checked the letter, the Microsoft
spell checker suggested I replace "Velamints" with "Fellations"!

The grammar checkers can be even funnier.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:56:50 +0100, M.Joshi
<M.Joshi.4d5f8b6@diybanter.com> wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

The easy way is with a capacitance meter. Connect between a known
good wire and the wire that's suspected of being broken. Measure the
capacitance at both ends. If there is a break in the wire, the ratio
of the two capacitances is the ratio of the length of broken wire to
the total length of the cable. If the capacitance from both ends is
equal, the wire is broken in the middle. Compare capacitance with
other wire pairs in the bundle. Do NOT measure to the shield, where
the capacitance is highly dependent on the wire position inside the
bundle.

I also use a TDR (time domain reflectometer), mostly for finding where
the mice have chewed their way through ethernet cable. I've built
several and have a few pieces of commercial hardware with a built in
TDR. The problem is that you'll need a VERY narrow pulse to measure
short cables. A telco style TDR is more suitable for cables that are
5 meters or longer.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:27:49 -0700, "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:

If pro S cables are anything like consumer S cables, I'd toss it and get a
new one.

The difference between the pro and consumer cables is the price. For
overpriced cables, see the various audiophile catalogs.
<http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=104>
Now, if I paid $200 to $400 for an S-video cable, I certainly would be
interested in repairing it.

The S cable is the perfect complement to a VHS recorder: The connectors are
too small and "fragile", and worse, the coax (?) is so stiff that it's
usually impossible to position it in a way that minimizes strain on the
connectors.

There's no such thing as a perfect connector system. I've been
complaining about the choice of connectors for 30 years (without much
results). For example:

RJ11 telco: Broken tabs, flimsy, not filth proof.
RJ45 network: Same as above.
RCA phono: Flimsy, difficult to solder, not constant impedance.
UHF connector: Impossible to solder, not constant impedance.
S-Video: No retention, too stiff cable, tiny pins that break.
Cigarette lighter: No retention clip, oversided, low current, ugly.
Toslink: Flimsy
USB: Far too big. Too easy to break. Originally too stiff cable.
Mini/Micro USB: Cannot be cleaned. Too easy to break.
PS/2 kbd/mouse: Same as S-video. Too easily broken.
D-connectors: Overkill for most applications. Expensive.
Apple iPod connector: Too big, too flimsy, too easy to mangle.
Magnetic connectors: Great idea, but best used for low power
applications instead of Apple power connectors.
2.5/3.5mm jack: Good for earphones and mics, but not for power.
HDMI: An improved mini/micro USB connector. Quite good.
Lemo: Verrrrrrry expensive but really solid.
XL: Huge, monsterous, massive, etc. More suitable for a power
connector than for a microphone.
AC power plug: Shock hazzard
IEC power jack: Not too horrible. No retention, but that's a good
thing for most power cord applications.
F-connector: Compression type are fine. Crimp ring type fall apart.
etc...

I have a Cantares UHJ decoder that uses an S cable to connect the power
supply to the unit. I hate to think what will happen if the cable or
connectors ever break. It's repairable, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Inevitably, I've seen almost every type of connector being used for
power. I have a high voltage power supply that uses a UHF connector.
Plug in an antenna and fry a few birds. It gets really ugly with gold
plated pins, which are really only suitable for dry loads.

Has anyone ever seen a "limp" S cable?

Sure. Give an s-video cable to a 3 year old and suggest some
exercises.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[William Sommerwerck]

There's no such thing as a perfect connector system.

Yes, but some are _lot_ less perfect than others.

I didn't mention that I broke the S connector on my S-VHS VCR. I never got
around to fixing it. I'm sure I've broken one or two connectors on other
equipment, but they don't come quickly to mind.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 10:03:20 -0700, "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:

There's no such thing as a perfect connector system.

Yes, but some are _lot_ less perfect than others.

You're being overly generous. Methinks they all suck. I forgot to
mention that some companies, specifically Motorola Land Mobile, offers
new mic and power connectors with every series of radios. The idea is
not to improve the connector, but to render all the old accessories
instantly obsolete. Special care has obviously been exercised in
preventing adapters from working. Even the antenna connectors are
often unique, especially on handhelds. In ham radio, the big three
(Yeasu, Icom, Kenwood) all use 2.5 and 3.5mm connector pairs for the
microphone and handset. No two schemes are the same, or even close.
Standards are a good thing... every company should have one.

Extra credit to Dell, Apple and others, for using DisplayPort on their
products, instead of the more common HDMI:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort>
There's a 4 cents per connector royalty on HDMI. Just think of the
savings.

Be sure to thank the computer gods that only Apple, IBM, and
consortiums are allowed to introduce new connectors into computers, or
we would face the same instant accessory obsolescence issues found in
commerical two-way radio.

I didn't mention that I broke the S connector on my S-VHS VCR. I never got
around to fixing it. I'm sure I've broken one or two connectors on other
equipment, but they don't come quickly to mind.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video>

S-video connectors will tolerate very little lateral stress. Pull on
the cable sideways, and something will bend or break. My problem with
such Mini-DIN connectors is the lack of any retention mechanism (i.e.
friction, leaf springs, lock, etc). When I pull the hi-fi away from
the wall, or out of the rack, the first connectors to unplug
themselves are the s-video connectors. On one customers system, I
tied string around the cable ends, and tied them to one of the binding
posts on the back of the hi-fi, to prevent the cables from falling
into the Gordian Knot behind the equipment pile.

Anyway, it's all academic. Soon, we'll all be doing wireless
everything and we can forget about most tangled cables and broken
connectors. The rest will be fiber, which currently offers a limited
number of creative connectors. Power connectors are already fairly
standard.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

On Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 11:56:50 AM UTC-4, M.Joshi wrote:

Hello,

I am trying to repair a professional S-Video cable. I replaced a
connector on one end as one of the pins had broken however, I'm not
able to get continuity to one of the signal pins on the other end.

I have checked the solder joints on the new connector and they
check-out fine.

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables)
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even if
is just placed nearby.

Any advice/tips would be grateful.


P.S. Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propaganda
posts on this thread? It seems that it is not being moderated
regularly?




--
M.Joshi

s-video cables are cheap... buy a new one

 

[Foxs Mercantile]

On 11/3/2017 12:50 PM, crickethomecams@gmail.com wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

A time domain reflectometer would be nice if it had inch resolution.

--
Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi
http://www.foxsmercantile.com

 

[Jon Elson]

Foxs Mercantile wrote:

On 11/3/2017 12:50 PM, crickethomecams@gmail.com wrote:
Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

A time domain reflectometer would be nice if it had inch resolution.

You can get pretty close to that with a fast risetime step, and a decent
scope bandwidth. I've used it to detect where a break was, but (cheat,
cheat) I know it would be where the wire was soldered to the connector, I
just needed to know which end to do surgery on.

Jon

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

On Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 11:56:50 AM UTC-4, M.Joshi wrote:

Hello,

I am trying to repair a professional S-Video cable. I replaced a
connector on one end as one of the pins had broken however, I'm not
able to get continuity to one of the signal pins on the other end.

I have checked the solder joints on the new connector and they
check-out fine.

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

I have tried using a tone injector/tracer (for telecoms. cables)
however, as the signal is so strong, it couples onto the cable even if
is just placed nearby.

Any advice/tips would be grateful.


P.S. Why are there so many unrelated advertising/religious propaganda
posts on this thread? It seems that it is not being moderated
regularly?




--
M.Joshi

This is a US$5 item. You will expend more than that in time, effort and tooling to make the repair. Buy a new one and be sure that it will work. Buy a couple.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 3 Nov 2017 10:50:01 -0700 (PDT), crickethomecams@gmail.com
wrote:

>On Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 11:56:50 AM UTC-4, M.Joshi wrote:

Ah, a 2009 vintage question, aged to perfection.

Does anyone know of an easy method to detect where the break might be
in the cable before I cut the other connector?

Capacitance meter. Measure the capacitance to ground for each lead at
both ends of the cable. The ratio of capcitances will give you the
location of the break. For example, if you get 15PF at one end and
40PF at the other on a 36 inch long cable, the break is at:
15 / (15+40) * 36 = 9.8 inches

>s-video cables are cheap... buy a new one

Yeah, but that's too easy and not any fun. You don't learn anything
by simply replacing it.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558