robert@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Robert Thompson) (08/31/90)
Hello all of you out there in netland..... I recall reading that one of you is selling the connector for the serial port on the 48. Are you still out there ? Any news would be greatly appreciated. Also, has anyone written a working terminal emulator the the 48 ? If so could you please send me a copy ? Thanks a bunch Robert
jmunkki@hila.hut.fi (Juri Munkki) (09/02/90)
In article <8648@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU> robert@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Robert Thompson) writes: > I recall reading that one of you is selling the connector for the > serial port on the 48. Are you still out there ? > > Any news would be greatly appreciated. Someone is selling those connectors, but if I understood correctly, it's not really a connector, but a kit that allows you to build a connector. As far as I'm concerned, I'm extremely happy by a solution that one of my friends came up with. You need a plastic DIP socket with square holes. You can't use those with round holes, because there isn't enough marging to make it fit. Cut out three sockets and use those for your serial cable. You only need three pins, because the HP connector has two grounds and for most uses one is sufficient. --------------- |# # # # # # #| | | ====> ______ |# # # # # # #| |# # # --------------- ------ This connector fits extremely well (although the pin spacing is wrong) and goes in only one way. My connector won't even go in the wrong pins. I have seen the HP cable and it fits slightly better than my home made cable. If you are not good at making cables and don't want to spend hours hunting or making a connector, get the HP cable. The price isn't all that bad. Would someone from HP like to comment on why they came up with a nonstandard pin spacing on the serial connector? If you tried to prevent people from plugging "funny" cables to their calculators, you failed miserably. I can't believe that selling cables would be the reason. It doesn't make sense. ___________________________________________________________________________ / Juri Munkki / Helsinki University of Technology / Wind / HP S / / jmunkki@hut.fi / Computing Center Macintosh Support / Surf / 48 X / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
rrd@hpfinote.HP.COM (Ray Depew x2419) (09/11/90)
> Would someone from HP like to comment on why they came up with a nonstandard > pin spacing on the serial connector? Five bucks says that nobody from the Calculator Gang "would like to comment on why" they did it! :-) :-) :-) I won't even try to answer "why". But it's not as "nonstandard" as you may think. DuPont (USA) makes a metric-spaced series of connectors, and their 4-pin connector fits perfectly. I would imagine that SIemens, Phillips or someone in Europe makes a similar, if not identical, series of connectors. Hmm, next question: Given the space constraints on the calculator (have you taken yours apart yet? (DON'T!) ), what would you define as the "standard" connector or pin spacing that should be used? This is the same problem that Poqet, Atari, Sharp and others have had to face. There ain't no standard. The 9-pin DIN is too big and bulky. All other choices are "nonstandard." Regards Ray Depew HP Colorado IC Division rrd@hpfitst1.hp.com Just another satisfied HP-48SX user.... ----------
jmunkki@hila.hut.fi (Juri Munkki) (09/16/90)
In article <19080004@hpfinote.HP.COM> rrd@hpfinote.HP.COM (Ray Depew x2419) writes: >Hmm, next question: Given the space constraints on the calculator (have >you taken yours apart yet? (DON'T!) ), what would you define as the "standard" >connector or pin spacing that should be used? This is the same problem that >Poqet, Atari, Sharp and others have had to face. There ain't no standard. >The 9-pin DIN is too big and bulky. All other choices are "nonstandard." One possibilty would have been the connector that is used for telephones, but this would probably have resulted in people trying to plug their HPs into phone networks, so it might not have worked. Apple uses this connector successfully to connect the keyboard to a MacPlus. The most obvious choice is to find something with a more common pin spacing and then use a custom connector to connect to those pins. There are industry standards and real standards. If I say "standard PC equipment", most people will at least guess that I'm talking about IBM-compatible computers. They will not start asking me for an ISO or DIN code number. Another good choice would have been a miniature stereo headphones plug. You can't get two ground signals on one of those, but so far I have been able to do with two. The connector is small, widely available and it is easy to build cables. Any other questions? ____________________________________________________________________________ / Juri Munkki / Helsinki University of Technology / Wind / Project / / jmunkki@hut.fi / Computing Center Macintosh Support / Surf / STORM / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
billw@hpcvra.CV.HP.COM (William C Wickes) (09/18/90)
Telephone plugs are not spec'd for enough insertions and removals.
gson@niksula.hut.fi (Andreas Gustafsson) (09/18/90)
Here is an alternative way to get a serial connector for your HP48SX: 1. Pay a visit to your friendly neighbourhood computer junk dealer 2. Walk up to the big pile of dead 5.25" floppy drives and find a drive with one or more 4-pin, 2-mm connectors (bring your HP or an 8-pin DIP IC; the HP should fit, the DIP should not) 4. Find the box with old, dirty D25 connectors and select one of the appropriate sex 5. Pay $2.50 for the dead floppy drive and get the D25 for free. At least it worked for me. Out of a dozen or so drives, at least two had the right kind of connector. They seem to be quite common in floppy drives, to connect various kinds of sensors to the main circuit board. -- Andreas Gustafsson Internet: gson@niksula.hut.fi Voice: +358 0 563 5592