Turtle Sense cable assembly instructions

Overview

We wire a short length of Cat5e cable to the Comm Board, and a 20 ft length of the same cable to the Smart Sensor board. We attach Molex connectors to the two cables.

• Materials used:
• Shielded direct burial cat5e cable
• Assembled Comm circuit board
• Assembled Smart Sensor circuit board
• Molex 9-pin plug
• Molex 9-pin receptacle
• Molex male pins
• Molex female pins
• 1/16" shrink tubing
• 1/2" shrink tubing

Comm Board Cable Instructions

• 1) Cut a 20" length of the cable and strip 3/4" of the outer and inner jackets on one end, being careful not to nick the drain wire between the jackets.
• 2) Untwist the pairs and straighten the wires somewhat.
• 3) Strip 3/16" of insulation on each wire.
• 4) Crimp 9 gold plated male pins to the wires, preferably with the Molex crimping tool.
• 5) Solder the crimped connections.
• 6) Insert the pins into the Molex receptacle, following the Comm board schematic, page 2.
• 7) Insert the other end of the cable through the back-to-back PVC end cap assembly.
• 8) Insert the end of the cable through the center part of the screw-in PVC cleanout plug.
• 9) Strip 7/8" of the outer and inner jackets on the other end of the cable.
• 10) Untwist the pairs and straighten the wires somewhat.
• 11) Shorten the striped wire of each pair by about 1/8".
• 12) Strip 3/16" of insulation on each wire.
• 13) Place a 1/2" length of 1/2" shrink tubing over the cable. Don't forget this!
• 14) Place a 5/8" length of 1/16" shrink tubing over the drain wire.
• 15) Solder all the wires to the Comm PCB, with the wires coming in on the microprocessor side of the board, with the cable parallel to the board and coming off in the direction of the end of the board. Follow the Comm board schematic, page 2.
• 16) Position the 1/2" shrink tubing piece over then cut end of the jacket, so that any exposed bit of the foil shield is covered, then shrink it with a heat gun.

Smart Sensor Cable Instructions

• 1) Cut a 20 ft length of the cable and strip 3/4" of the jackets, as above.
• 2) Attach the Molex connector as above, but using a Molex plug and female pins. Follow the Comm board schematic, page 2.
• 3) Strip 5/8" of the outer and inner jackets on the other end of the cable.
• 4) Untwist the pairs and straighten the wires somewhat.
• 5) Shorten the solid color wire of each pair by about 1/8".
• 6) Further shorten the blue, blue-white, green, and green-white wires by about 1/16" This is so that the cable will be centered side-to-side on the Smart Sensor board. If the cable is well centered, it makes it easier to cast the board in the plastic without any corners touching the surface.
• 7) Strip 3/16" of insulation on each wire.
• 8) Solder all the wires to the Smart Sensor board, with the wires coming in on the microprocessor side of the board. The center axis of the cable should be in line with the center of the Smart Sensor board. Follow the Comm board schematic, page 2.