OBRIEN%OBRIEN@VENUS.YCC.YALE.EDU ("James A. O'Brien 432-4382", 203) (04/12/88)
I am now the proud owner of an NEC MultiSync II colour monitor, connected
to my Rainbow at home. Anyone interested? So far, it seems to work just
fine. If enough people are interested, I'll write a summary of what I did
and post it to the net. Bear in mind, however, that I'm not going to be
responsible for any goofing around you do with your machine/monitor. I'm
PRETTY sure that it's working (i.e. everything looks as it should on the
monitor) but I have no way of knowing yet whether I'm slowly killing the
NEC machine!
I have made up a cable with a switch, which allows either the
dual-monitor or the colour-monitor-only configuration. Each of them has
been tested, and works just fine. My personal preference is to use the
colour monitor for text AND graphics, and abandon the monochrome VR201.
There's a little problem with that, as the keyboard needs to be connected
through the monochrome monitor. Thus, my blank monochrome monitor sits
in a corner behind my desk, being used as an expensive adaptor for the keyboard
cable! (As regards length, the keyboard cable can be replaced by the
handset-to-phone cord (the coiled one) from any standard telephone (long
ones are available at any store which sells phone equipment)). Can anyone tell
me about the connection between the keyboard and the monochrome monitor?
I'd like to know what happens between the modular socket and where the keyboard
signals emerge on pins 14 and 15 of the monitor cable, e.g. are all four
conductors in the keyboard cable active ? If so, what are they (power,
e.g., I guess)?
This is already longer than I intended originally. If there's
interest, I'll report in more detail and provide a wiring diagram for the
cable I use. Of course, if the contraption blows up in my face, I'll let
you know, too. The important issue of price: I paid about $625 including
shipping from California to Connecticut from Priority One Electronics.
The cable cost no more than $25 to make (it would have been cheaper if my
local Radio Shack stocked 15-pin subminiature plugs!). I consider the monitor
an excellent investment because a) it's cheaper than a new VR241 b) it can
be used on ANY PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or MAC II graphics card. I'm also going to
be using it on an AT from time to time, and I have this funny feeling that
we're all going to be using MAC II's before very long!
Jim O'Brien
Department of Chemical Engineering
Yale University
P.O.Box 2159 Yale Station
New Haven, CT 06520, U.S.A.
+1 203 432 4382 (Day)
+1 203 322 7222 (Evening)
Return Addresses (both equivalent):
OBRIEN@YALEVMS BITnet
OBRIEN@VENUS.YCC.YALE.EDU internet