Assembling the Dragon Rider 500 for use with the AVR Dragon

Step 15 Ribbon Cable Kit

As with the LCD kit, Ecros Tech was nice enough to send me a complimentary ribbon cable kit after seeing this instructable.

The 10-way Ribbon Cable Accessory Kit comes with 24" of ribbon cable, 6 2x5 IDC plugs and 6 strain relief clips. In the pictures below I have used my own ribbon cable and plugs but other than the plugs being a different color everything will work the same. If you don't plan on purchasing your own spool of ribbon cable (100') I would suggest ordering 2 of the ribbon cable kits from Ecros as they are extremely cheap and this will allow you all the cables you need to prototype 40-pin AVR chips with a lot of off-board circuits. That being said, for most applications one kit has everything you need.

1. Cut the ribbon cable to length.

• You have enough plugs for 3 cables so perhaps cut into 3 lengths 8" each.

2 Insert ribbon cable into the socket being careful of polarity.

• Looking down from the top of the IDC plug, with the polarity notch on the top the red stripe of the ribbon cable should be to the right.
• Once you clamp these sockets closed there's no turning back so take your time!

3. Clamp down the IDC socket.

• I use a clamp, you could use a vice. Even pressure makes this job a snap.

4. Install the strain relief clip.

• Bend the ribbon cable over the top of the plug. The strain relief will snap into place over the cable.

5. Repeat this process for the plug on the other end.

• Polarity is the same on this end: viewed from above the plarity notch will be up and the red stripe on the right.