TRS-80 Model III Diskless upgrade advice: Jumper cables

[behines]

I was stoked when these inter-board jumper cables arrived this evening. They seem perfect.

But when I try to insert them into the connector, I am unable to generate enough force to get the connector fingers to yield and accept the cable. The cable starts to buckle before I can force it in.

I am trying on the motherboard side first, which has never had any cables plugged into these connectors.

Is there some trick to inserting them? I tried reaching in with a jeweler's screwdriver, and I verified that each individual finger inside the connector can flex. It feels kind of like I need a "cable shoehorn" - a thin metal shim that I can shove into the connector along with the cable, then retract, leaving the cable inside.

Is there an "official" way to insert these cables?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[behines]

I was able to solve this one!

After some sifting through various household items, I discovered that this socket EXACTLY matches the size of an ordinary credit card.

I actually ended up using my health insurance card - a little softer and thinner than most of today's credit cards - and it worked!

Actually one way worked and one didn't, and now I don't recall for sure which one worked. I think it was that if I put the card next to the fingers, and the cable behind the card, it didn't work - when I withdrew the card the cable came with it.

If instead I put the cable next to the fingers, and the card behind it, I was able to shove the assembly into place, and then when I withdrew the card, the fingers bit into the metal ends of the cable and kept it in place.

 

[ldkraemer]

Find yourself a wooden pencil. Lay the pencil in the 180 degree loop of the cable. Grip the Pencil
against the flex cable with your fingers. You can easily insert or remove the flex cable without
deforming or crimping it.

Larry

 

[behines]

Find yourself a wooden pencil. Lay the pencil in the 180 degree loop of the cable. Grip the Pencil
against the flex cable with your fingers. You can easily insert or remove the flex cable without
deforming or crimping it.

Larry

Thanks! That's super useful. I was having trouble with the other end of the cable as well.