jep@oink.UUCP (James E. Prior) (08/29/87)
Are you fed up with the cable that connects your UNIX-PC to its keyboard? I certainly am. It is much too short. So I am looking for a keyboard extension cable. If you know of such a beast, please let me know how I may get one. Murphy warns me not to expect such a cable to be available, so I am prepared to take this matter into my own hands. Do you want such a cable? If so, then please let me know. Also say how long you think the cable should be. How much would you expect such a cable to cost? How much would you be willing to spend on it? Should the cable be coiled or straight? Please send me mail with your answers. I'll post a summary of your replies. The more responses there are, the more likely some company would consider making the beast. I am accustomed to proping up a monitor on the far side of a desk, propping my feet upon the near edge of said desk, leaning back and typing with the keyboard on my lap. The UNIX-PC keyboard cable is always fighting me. It looks neat sitting on the box, but as soon as one pulls it off the box and sits it down in front of the box, the coiled cord starts pulling. It probably would have been long enough, if it hadn't been coiled. Does anybody know how to uncoil it without unduly stressing the conductors? I myself, have the means to splice in some extra wire, but it wouldn't be as nice as a cable done right. I would sure like to see a good long cable. My own empirical ohmic study of the cable has established the following connections as looking into the ends of the cable. The numbering of pins is my own. The ends are identical. Bare Sheild Side +-+-+-+-+ |1|3|5|7| +-+-+-+-+ |2|4|6|8| +-+-+-+-+ One End Other End Bare Sheild Bare Sheild 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 6 5 5 6 4 7 7 8 8 Notice how pins 4 and 6 are swapped, similar to that of a null modem. -- James E. Prior {ihnp4|cbosgd}!n8emr!oink!jep