and was wondering if anyone could give me a good source (preferably North American, ideally Canadian) for cables and connectors like this. I would love to be able to have a complex circuit like a multiplexed LED matrix on a separate board, only needing to plug a few things into the arduino to have it all running. Or, as this page shows, easily interface between a board with a multiplexer and a board with an led matrix or 7-segment display, without a lot of messy looking jumpers running between boards.
In that case, I've found mouser.com to offer the best selection, best web-site, and most reasonable shipping options for getting stuff into Canada.
$8 / shipment USPS
The keywords I think you're looking for for this product line is "D-Subminiature" connectors and cables.
Note that I have no connection to futurlec nor have any discount to show their adress here, just mail then and ask about shipping prices for Canada and see if it fit your needs.
The keywords I think you're looking for for this product line is "D-Subminiature" connectors and cables.
Also - look up IDC connectors; these are (IIRC) "Inline Dual Connectors" (ok, redundant there) - they come in a couple of formats; one basically looks like the connectors you see for floppy or hard drives (both on the cable and the motherboard - male/female), while the other (on the cable, usually) look like a connector with pins in the size of a DIP IC (though these may be known as something else?) - and they mate with a DIP socket (like for a DIP IC).
Both come in a variety of pin counts. They are easy to crimp onto the ribbon cable, provided you have a vice or a pair of pliers with parallel closing jaws (don't try to use regular pliers - you're as likely to damage the connector and the ribbon cable as you are to crimping it).
