Hello! Newbie with a ? about S-Video cable construction

[David Dryden]

Hello all! Been lurking about for several weeks and finally signed on. I am in the process of making my own S-Video cables and would like to know what the "proper" color code is for the cable. I'm using Belden 1808A cable. I know that "technically" it doesn't matter which color I use for Y and C as long as they're wired the same at both ends, but I'd like to wire them correctly to avoid any potential confusion down the road. One cable is yellow and the other is black. Is there a standard color configuration, i.e. yellow for Y and black for C? Help! I'm anxious to get them soldered up so I can enjoy them!

David

 

[jaxvon]

Now, I'm not an expert, but judging from Belden's description and site, it looks like they're just color coded for so you don't screw up the connection at one end. Since Belden doesn't make any differentiation, I'd say that they're identical coaxes.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hello all! Been lurking about for several weeks and finally signed on. I am in the process of making my own S-Video cables and would like to know what the "proper" color code is for the cable. I'm using Belden 1808A cable. I know that "technically" it doesn't matter which color I use for Y and C as long as they're wired the same at both ends, but I'd like to wire them correctly to avoid any potential confusion down the road. One cable is yellow and the other is black. Is there a standard color configuration, i.e. yellow for Y and black for C? Help! I'm anxious to get them soldered up so I can enjoy them!

David

May I ask why you are doing your own? Have you tried to solder the plug by hand with such small pins so close together? It ain't fun and you may have some resistance develop between the pins afterwards, less than infinity.

I am not aware of color standards for the pins.

 

[David Dryden]

Well, I'm making my own because I can make enough cables to wire my entire system for less than the cost of buying one cable commercially made using the exact same components. Also, I enjoy the process! I have been soldering since I was 8 years old (over 36 years) including being certified doing Mil-Spec soldering. No problem for me there!

As I said before, I know it doesn't matter electrically speaking which color wire I use for each, I just wanted to remain consistant with whatever standard there may be. I have already checked Belden's website with no luck finding any reference to S-Video. Oh well, maybe someone else might chime in. Thanks!

David

 

[David Dryden]

Well, I flipped a coin and went with Yellow for Y and Black for C. Made up two cables last night, one for receiver to TV and another for DVD to receiver. Put on The Eagles, Hell Freezes Over DVD in and had a look. Much better! Up 'til recently, I've been using an older Onkyo receiver that didn't have S-Video so I've been using composite video for everything. Now I have a Denon 3805, and life's good! Now I just need to make up a couple more S-Video cables for my cable box and laserdisc player...

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well, I flipped a coin and went with Yellow for Y and Black for C. Made up two cables last night, one for receiver to TV and another for DVD to receiver. Put on The Eagles, Hell Freezes Over DVD in and had a look. Much better! Up 'til recently, I've been using an older Onkyo receiver that didn't have S-Video so I've been using composite video for everything. Now I have a Denon 3805, and life's good! Now I just need to make up a couple more S-Video cables for my cable box and laserdisc player...

Great! If you have waited for a standard code, hell would have frozen over

Since the cable colors are hidden behind the plug I don't see a problem as long as you are consistent in a cable. While I have soldering experience, not as much as you, my attempt was a hair puller. did you check resistance afterwards between pins? I had way less than infinity that had to be dealt with.

 

[flyv65]

Well, I flipped a coin and went with Yellow for Y and Black for C. Made up two cables last night, one for receiver to TV and another for DVD to receiver. Put on The Eagles, Hell Freezes Over DVD in and had a look. Much better! Up 'til recently, I've been using an older Onkyo receiver that didn't have S-Video so I've been using composite video for everything. Now I have a Denon 3805, and life's good! Now I just need to make up a couple more S-Video cables for my cable box and laserdisc player...

I'm curious: since the 3805 upsamples composite and s-video signal to component out, are you using the s-video cables for your DVD player to the receiver ('cuz the player doesn't have component out), or are you using the s-video to the TV ('cuz the TV doesn't have component in)? I've got my satellite box and VCR both composite to the reccy, and component out (what can I tell you? They're old). The sat picture is somewhat better-but the VCR is *much* better; the upsampling is really noticeable.

Bryan...one 'o these days-digital sat in my future...

 

[David Dryden]

Well, to be honest, I didn't check the resistance between the pins. I was EXTREMELY careful when stripping and soldering the wires (the center conductors are VERY small - 30 AWG). Also had to be careful as the connectors had plastic around the pins and I didn't want to melt it. The picture looks great! I made a 12 foot cable for the receiver to TV connection and a 3 foot for the DVD player.

As far as the TV goes, yeah, it's an oldie but goodie. No component inputs. It's a Panasonic 31" (yes 31", not 32") GAAO set that we bought in the early '90s. Awesome picture, even after all these years of use. The only set that I saw that I liked better was a Proton and they were priced out of this world (at least for my wallet). I used to work at a high end A/V store and we sold Proton. Awesome looking sets.

At any rate, I'm happy with the cables so far, especially for the price. Just a little "sweat equity" involved!

 

[CinRG]

Hi, your post was perfect timing. I was just getting ready to wire up this same cable. There are only 4 wires. 1 center cond for Y and its shield for Y gnd, 1 center for C and its shield for C gnd. Don't you need to solder a wire to the connector's shield?

 

[David Dryden]

No. The connector shell will be grounded by the device it is plugged in to. BTW, my new cables work great!