Making a PCMCIA extender

[rkauer]

Hello crazy people (that's me, me and me - I am a schizo). :crazy:

-Due the fact that PCMCIA angle adaptor cost a LOT of money (I refuse to pay 50 euro for one of those) :pissed:

 I figure out if I buy a dead PCMCIA card and a dead notebook mobo :horse: , then strip away, solder one to another with shielded wires.  :hammer:

 Could I make a PCMCIA extension to put in a towerised Amiga, directioning the conector to a slot in the front of the case. :-D

How do you think about that (not my very bad english, the idea)?    :-?  

[countzero]

Welcome to the pcmcia extenders club. I've looking for a solution for a long time, and came across this product which does exactly what I want : PccExtend 120. Last time I asked them for a quote, they told me it was about $500 ! so bugger them till they come to their senses.

[dbrads]

I have been thinking exectly the same thing recently.

I have a pile of 1MB PCMCIA cards at work, I have tried them on Amigas and they dont work, so I was planning to strip one down and attemt to build an extender for my A1200 in a Micronik tower.
 

[theTAO]

@countzero:

Maybe I didn't read the text closely enough, but I can't see how that thing connects to a 1200.  Where's the female end that plugs in?

I assume everybody knows what the "official" 1200 PCMCIA adapter looks like?  I bought one several years ago from Software Hut for $25-$30.  It's miniscule...not an "extender" at all, just a piece of plastic with pins at a 90-degree angle so that in a tower case, the PCMCIA card rests on the bottom of the case.  I'd hoped for something with a cable and a slot bracket for the back of the case, so I could swap PCMCIA cards without disassembling everything.  On the other hand, most PCMCIA network cards have a fragile "rat tail" or other connector that attaches to your RJ45 cable, so leaving it dangling out the back could be trouble.

Today, what I'm actually looking for is a slot bracket with a female RJ45 connector, so I could solder the "rat tail" to it internally.  (Imagine a PC slot bracket for supporting extra USB ports, but instead for 10BaseT ethernet.)  Anyone ever seen one of these?  Yeah, I could probably hack something, but don't want yet another hardware project on my to-do list.

If anybody wants to try making their own "extender," I'd take a hint from the above web page.  I believe PCMCIA slots are very suceptible to noise, and simply attaching male and female connectors to several inches of cable isn't going to cut it.

Todd

[AJCopland]

@theTAO
Well if you look closely at the picture one end is a PCMCIA card and at the other end is a PCMCIA adapter. Hence one end goes in the Miggy and the other... well it's where any other card goes.

Andy

[rkauer]

That is way I think the extender could be.

Anyway, soldering 136 wires could be a lot of work. :hammer:

And I like the idea of put some 105c caps in the power  supply lines and put grounds between signal wires. And more: put metal separating each group of wires as electrical shield. :idea:

I will make one and tell you the results.

[rkauer]

theTAO wrote:
@countzero:

Maybe I didn't read the text closely enough, but I can't see how that thing connects to a 1200.  Where's the female end that plugs in?

> Stripping away the female conector from the dead notebook (de-soldering it and soldering in a lot of ribbon cables) :horse:


Today, what I'm actually looking for is a slot bracket with a female RJ45 connector, so I could solder the "rat tail" to it internally.  (Imagine a PC slot bracket for supporting extra USB ports, but instead for 10BaseT ethernet.)  Anyone ever seen one of these?  Yeah, I could probably hack something, but don't want yet another hardware project on my to-do list.

>Just find a dead peecee k6-2 desktop and take that plate! I think that is easy to find. :horse:

If anybody wants to try making their own "extender," I'd take a hint from the above web page.  I believe PCMCIA slots are very suceptible to noise, and simply attaching male and female connectors to several inches of cable isn't going to cut it.

> That´s why I want some more info about: is enough put some caps in the 12V and 5V lines, put a ground wire between every signal line and put a metal shield between every plane of ribbon cables...

Todd

[ncafferkey]

Today, what I'm actually looking for is a slot bracket with a female RJ45 connector, so I could solder the "rat tail" to it internally.  (Imagine a PC slot bracket for supporting extra USB ports, but instead for 10BaseT ethernet.)  Anyone ever seen one of these?  Yeah, I could probably hack something, but don't want yet another hardware project on my to-do list.

Sorry, for resurrecting a very old thread, but I really like this idea (apart from the soldering  ). Has anyone tried it? I found this extender and matching "ISA/PCI" backplate, which look ideal:

https://www.performance-pcs.com/peripherals/usb-adapters/1000m-cat6-rj45-ethernet-extension-cable-with-panel-mount-30cm-mdy-rj45-e6-30.html

[Boing-ball]

I think the issue you will have is the length. If you make this too long, then you will face power and data degradation issues.
I’m guessing this is why you only see the right angle adapters for sale.

[AndyFC]

Rastport, who makes (made? a lot of items are showing 'out of stock' on the website) excellent Amiga add-ons attempted this with the aim of making a commercial product and gave up due to signal degradation.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Rastport+PCMCIA+extender&oq=Rastport+PCMCIA+extender

[AndyFC]

Sorry, for resurrecting a very old thread, but I really like this idea (apart from the soldering  ). Has anyone tried it? I found this extender and matching "ISA/PCI" backplate, which look ideal:

https://www.performance-pcs.com/peripherals/usb-adapters/1000m-cat6-rj45-ethernet-extension-cable-with-panel-mount-30cm-mdy-rj45-e6-30.html

I have something exactly like this to mount an Ethernet jack from a 3 COM PCMCIA card on the back of my DIY tower.

[ncafferkey]

I think the issue you will have is the length. If you make this too long, then you will face power and data degradation issues.
I’m guessing this is why you only see the right angle adapters for sale.

I meant the idea I quoted of extending the Ethernet cable rather than the PCMCIA lines

[kolla]

Has anyone tried it?

I have at least used something looking more or less identical. Sometimes you find similar cables inside rack servers even, typically just for the port used by the management-module (which is a small computer in itself).

[AndyFC]

I meant the idea I quoted of extending the Ethernet cable rather than the PCMCIA lines

Ethernet is easily extendable. The standard for Cat5 and Cat6 cable means it should work up to 100 meters.