Build a Sony Playstation link cable for $3
Think that $30 for a bit of wire is pretty rude
The Playstation link cable is just eight bits of wire. There is no electronics in it at all. The only reason Sony gets away with charging thirty dollars for it is the fact that it uses a proprietary plug that you can not get anywhere. In this article I will show you how you can build your own plugs and cable. It is in no way a professional unit that looks beautiful, it does however do the job.
The plug has eight contacts of which seven are used. They are connected as shown below.
1 ------- \ / ------- 1 Pin 1 - 4
\ / Pin 2 NC
2 NC \ / NC 2 Pin 3 - 6
X Pin 4 - 1
3 ------- \ / \ / ------- 3 Pin 5 - 8
X X Pin 6 - 3
4 ------- / \ / \ ------- 4 Pin 7 - 7
X Pin 8 - 5
5 ------- \ / \ / ------- 5
X X
6 ------- / \ / \ ------- 6
X
7 --------- / \ --------- 7
/ \
8 ------- / \ ------- 8
Now that's the easy part. The hard part is the actual plug. The socket itself looks like this.
Now what we have to do is to make a plastic plug that has eight contacts in the right position to mate with the eight in the plug. There are no commonly available plugs that have the same pitch as the ones on the link cable. However the contacts in a PLCC socket (the same as the 52 pin socket used for a HC11) are very close.
Shown above is the link cable I made and below are instructions to allow you to make your own for about $3 AUS.
The diagram above shows a 52 PLCC socket (such as is used for a HC11). To make a Playstation link plug you have to do some advanced butchery to the IC socket.
The first thing that you have to do is to pull the bottom off the plug. To do this you must cut off the four plastic nodules from the bottom of the plug (these are marked with the red boxes). After these nodules are removed you can then get a small blade and wedge it in the crack marked by the green arrow. A little bit of prying and the entire bottom of the plug will come off.
Once you have the bottom of the plug off you can get a pair of small pliers and pull out all 52 pins in the socket. Save these pins for later as you have to put them back in the plug later. If you are having problems pulling out the pins you might find it easier to use a very small flat blade screwdriver or knife and push the pins out from the other side.
The last bit of IC socket butchery is the hardest by far. One side of the socket must be cut the right size. This size is shown as a blue box on the above diagram. To make sure you don't cut the socket too small it is easier to cut it over size and then file it to size, checking if it will fit in the back of your PSX as you go.
After making the plastic the right size you must then reinsert eight of the pins that you removed earlier. If all has gone well you will have a plug that looks something like the diagram below. Now you have to repeat the above procedure to make a plug for the other end.
Last of all is the easy part. Get a strip of rainbow cable or ribbon cable. Pull off seven wires and then solder them to the bottom of the two plugs you have made. Follow either the wiring diagram or the picture of the finished cable at the top of the document.
