19 Mar
2003
19 Mar
'03
11:49 p.m.
AUI cable? - Oh yes, I do remember: when I was at the University of
Darmstadt, getting those four pairs and all the shields into the shell
of a 15-pin connector was the hardest test somebody had to stand before
she/he was allowed to "officially" join the network/cabling crew.
Tony, we should have met earlier: I would have been happy to cut a
couple of feet from the reel for you.
We found that there was a difference between |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| and other
brands: the DEC cables had the common shield isolated from the
individual shields of the pairs, while at least some other manufacturers
had them connected.
I still have a self-made one connecting my 11/23-PLUS to a new-fangled
BNC mini transceiver, because even the mini transceiver would not fit
under the hood when directly plugged into the DEQNA (Ethernet) bulkhead
at the back of the BA23 box.
Andreas
Tony Duell wrote:
--
Andreas Freiherr
Vishay Semiconductor GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany
http://www.vishay.com
What is DEC AUI
Cable? ie: What is it used for, and what kind of wire is
inside?
AUI = Attachment Unit Interface (IIRC), the interface between an ethernet
controller and the MAU (Media Access Unit). It's the cable for an
ethernet tranceiver, therefore.
At one time ethernet transceivers were not built into the
computer/interface card. They were semi-permanently fixed to the coaxial
cable. And you used an AUI cable to connect the computer to the transceiver.
It's 4 twisted pairs. 3 are identical and carry the 3 transceiver signals
(transmit data, receive data, collision detect). The other pair is
thicker wires (officially) and carries the 12V power supply to the
transceiver.
A few years about I had to make up one of these cables because my PERQ
uses 4-40 screw-down jackposts and not the normal slidelock posts on the
ethernet connectors. Getting a couple of metres of the cable was the
hardest part of the job!
-tony