21 Nov
2025
21 Nov
'25
10:50 a.m.
So true.
We all rememember when people were throwing away their extra cables.
BUT, while looking on eBay for them, consider that it might be as cheap to
buy a purportedly good 225 or 251 drive that comes with cables.
On Fri, 21 Nov 2025, Mike Katz via cctalk wrote:
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
> Warner,
>
> Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately the only cables I could find on
> eBay were $20 each, which I thought was a bit expensive.
>
> I thought I would see what I could find in this group and maybe keep some
> cables out of the landfill.
>
> On 11/21/2025 11:28 AM, Warner Losh via cctalk wrote:
>> Last time I needed them, a dozen sellers on ebay had the right cable kits
>> for MFM drives. Cost was like $10 each with shipping (since they were old),
>> but it was fast and easy... The time before I bought the parts, used a
>> vice, had to redo one cable twice for silly reasons, and though the cost
>> was about the same, I spent an extra hour on the process.
>>
>> Warner
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 10:17 AM Paul Koning via cctalk <
>> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>>> For that matter, since the connectors are insulation displacement type,
>>> you can assemble your own: buy the connectors and a length of table, cut
>>> pieces to size, and assemble the connectors onto the cable. A press is
>>> normally used for that, but a vise should do the job too.
>>>
>>> paul
>>>
>>>> On Nov 21, 2025, at 11:03 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk <
>>> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>>> General comment on cables like that: in the past I have obtained flat
>>> ribbon cable assemblies from Digikey. If you're dealing with a cable
>>> that's simply a ribbon of width N and a connector at each end, companies
>>> like that can supply them easily and cheaply, in any length you want.
>>>> paul
>>>>
>>>>> On Nov 20, 2025, at 9:40 PM, Mike Katz via cctalk <
>>> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>>>> Does anyone out there have a spare 1/2 high 5 1/4" Seagate MFM
hard
>>> drive face plate (ST-221, ST-251, etc.) that they can let go cheap?
>>>>> And also a 34 conductor dual drive cable and a single 20 on single
>>> drive cable?
>>>>> Thank you.
>>>>>
>>>>> Contact me off list at bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com