Ethercon for the MFC 101 - The missing link

Thanks Iaresee and Shotgunn. Shotgunn, why don't you and I talk about it and if what I want is too crazy I can reach out to Iaresee's RedCo recommendation. PM'ing you now.

Thanks again fellas!
 
This thread is a life saver! I tripped over my cat5 cable a while back and screwed up the pins in the expansion port. My MFC was used, so I figured "why not try the ethercon mod?" Thank you Patzag for organizing the information on how to do this. I now get to go back to a single cord and no extra wall warts to deal with. Fantastic.
 
Great thread. This is something I've been worrying about - so thanks.

My MFC being in warranty plus my not being totally confident with the removing of everything required at the MFC end, are there any disadvantages to simply mounting a small ethercon box onto the board beside the MFC, with a very short RJ45 patch cable into the normal socket?

This would protect the fragile MFC ethernet socket from pullers and stompers - which I very much agree is the weak link in such an otherwise road-proofed piece of gear. I carry round several very cheap RJ45 cables against this threat, but there's nothing to be done if a stomper damages the actual MFC socket.

I'm not anything like as concerned with the AXE end. Indeed it might be a useful safety measure if that end were to pull out rather than get wrenched such that the SKB is pulled onto the ground. But with buying ethercon cables, maybe it's sensible to have ethercon at both ends?
 
No problem with doing that man. Buy one at a full Compass part nu bed ne8ff I think and Velcro it to the side of the Mfc as everyone else seems to be doing.
 
OK, so what if you were to use this: NE8FDP-B - Neutrik. It's a pass-through with ethercon on one side and RJ45 on the other. You could pull the exiting RJ45 connector out of the MFC-101 case and use a very short ethernet cable to connect the existing jack to the pass-through mounted in the chassis. No soldering necessary, right? I'd be much more comfortable doing that. I'm a novice at best with a soldering iron and messing around with that logic board would leave me (and the board) scarred for life. But I think I could cut that hole pretty easily.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Nevermind. I see that the existing jack is mounted to the logic board and the mod has the ethercon mounted at a different location in the chassis. There's really no way without soldering so looks like it's not for me.
 
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youngmic said:
OK, so what if you were to use this: NE8FDP-B - Neutrik. It's a pass-through with ethercon on one side and RJ45 on the other. You could pull the exiting RJ45 connector out of the MFC-101 case and use a very short ethernet cable to connect the existing jack to the pass-through mounted in the chassis. No soldering necessary, right? I'd be much more comfortable doing that. I'm a novice at best with a soldering iron and messing around with that logic board would leave me (and the board) scarred for life. But I think I could cut that hole pretty easily.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Nevermind. I see that the existing jack is mounted to the logic board and the mod has the ethercon mounted at a different location in the chassis. There's really no way without soldering so looks like it's not for me.
Click to expand...

Hey there, this is exactly what I've done. I've mounted a Neutrik coupler thingie on my pedalboard (NE8FF) and another one on the inside of my rack case - both of which connect to Axe and MFC via a short RJ45 lead and with an Etherconn cable connecting the two adapters. Works great, is completely flexible and non-invasive.

photo-14.jpg
 
Same here. Keep in mind that there's a coupling cycle specified for ethercon as well.
Much easier to exchange the coupler than a chassis feed through when that cycle has been reached.
 
Toadfish said:
Hey there, this is exactly what I've done. I've mounted a Neutrik coupler thingie on my pedalboard (NE8FF) and another one on the inside of my rack case - both of which connect to Axe and MFC via a short RJ45 lead and with an Etherconn cable connecting the two adapters. Works great, is completely flexible and non-invasive.

photo-14.jpg
Click to expand...

Very good thread, I like this approach, it is something I can do myself.
Cool.
 
i did the same a while back - though I fitted a pass through neutric D type adaptor - with the J45 on the inside and a short patch cable like the one on my board to the AFX.

board.jpg


P1020687.jpg
 
I recently modified my MFC for the NE8FF Neutrik/Ethercon adaptor, too. Not too much different from what others have done, other than I attached mine permanently to the back of the unit rather than do the velcro thing.

IMG_1827_Sm.JPG


First, the Neutrik adapter gets some 1/8" holes drilled in it


IMG_1832_Sm.JPG


Then, I drilled and tapped a couple 6-32 holes in the MFC and attached half the adapter shell


IMG_1835_Sm.JPG


And there it is. Nice and tight. Take a hammer to knock it off.
​

My concern with the velcro was that if somebody tripped over the cord, the Ethercon cable adapter wouldn't be much help - the velcro would let go and the stress would still be on the RJ-45 on the rear panel, which likely wouldn't take it.

I would rather have done something like what the original poster did, with a panel-mount Ethercon connector, but I didn't like the idea of tacking on the cable internally to the solder pads of the existing panel connector. If I was going to go that route, I'd have removed the existing connector altogether to free up those solder pads so I could go through the board with the wires. But, my laziness knows no bounds, so...
 
Cagey said:
I recently modified my MFC for the NE8FF Neutrik/Ethercon adaptor, too. Not too much different from what others have done, other than I attached mine permanently to the back of the unit rather than do the velcro thing.

IMG_1827_Sm.JPG


First, the Neutrik adapter gets some 1/8" holes drilled in it


IMG_1832_Sm.JPG


Then, I drilled and tapped a couple 6-32 holes in the MFC and attached half the adapter shell


IMG_1835_Sm.JPG


And there it is. Nice and tight. Take a hammer to knock it off.
​

My concern with the velcro was that if somebody tripped over the cord, the Ethercon cable adapter wouldn't be much help - the velcro would let go and the stress would still be on the RJ-45 on the rear panel, which likely wouldn't take it.

I would rather have done something like what the original poster did, with a panel-mount Ethercon connector, but I didn't like the idea of tacking on the cable internally to the solder pads of the existing panel connector. If I was going to go that route, I'd have removed the existing connector altogether to free up those solder pads so I could go through the board with the wires. But, my laziness knows no bounds, so...
Click to expand...

I really dig this. You still had to open up the mfc didn't you?
 
It's a great idea, brokenvail. The problem that I see, however, is that someone could still get their foot caught in the RJ45 wire loop that I see there.

Tape it down, perhaps?
 
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