14 Sep
2013
14 Sep
'13
7:46 a.m.
I just collected a VAXstation 2000 that has an AUI connector on the back.
The trouble is that the connector is a bit strange. It has screw holes like
you might get for screwing in a serial cable or a video cable, rather than
the locking slider that grips some studs on the cable you are connecting (or
a transceiver in my case).
Is it possible to get an AUI cable or a transceiver that will fit this
connector or must I physically modify something I already have?
Regards
Rob
14 Sep
14 Sep
10:17 a.m.
On 9/14/13 7:46 AM, "Robert Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>
wrote:
I just collected a VAXstation 2000 that has an AUI
connector on the back.
The trouble is that the connector is a bit strange. It has screw holes
like
you might get for screwing in a serial cable or a video cable, rather than
the locking slider that grips some studs on the cable you are connecting
(or
a transceiver in my case).
Is it possible to get an AUI cable or a transceiver that will fit this
connector or must I physically modify something I already have?
On my Pro380, I had the locking sliders, but the AUI-to-TP adapter I have
wanted to screw into studs, so I unscrewed the locking sliders. I don't
think the variation you're seeing is all that unusual, and you can
probably find an adapter/transceiver like the one I have on ePay pretty
easily. -- Ian
12:56 p.m.
I just collected a VAXstation 2000 that has an AUI connector on the back.
The trouble is that the connector is a bit strange. It has screw holes like
you might get for screwing in a serial cable or a video cable, rather than
the locking slider that grips some studs on the cable you are connecting (or
a transceiver in my case).
Is it possible to get an AUI cable or a transceiver that will fit this
connector or must I physically modify something I already have?
Some machines did indeed have screwposts, not the sliding clip. PERQs
did, for example.
If the connector is a DA15, it is very likely that it is the standard
wiring (again PERQs were), the difference is the locking system only.
There seem to be 2 solutions :
1) Replace the screwposts with the locking clip and screws. I _think_
those locking kits are still available, although mot easy to find or
cheap. Look inside the machine before you start dismandling anything to
see if the posts go into tapped bushes in the socket or if there are
loose nuts ot worry about.
2) Make up a cable. Maingt the AUI drop cable is not easy as the raw
cable is 4 twisted pairs, the power pair being thicker wire than the
other 3. When I was looking for some about 20 years ago I couldn't find
anyone who would sell me less than a 100m reel (not cheap!). I finally
found a freindly networking person who gave me an 'offcut'.
However, it may break all the rules, but for short lengths -- say about
10cm, I think you's get away with a bit of IDC ribbon cable and IDC
conenctors. You probably don't nbeed ot bother with the locking screws or
climsp, jsut make up the cable and plug both ends in
-tony
1:34 p.m.
2) Make up a cable. Maingt the AUI drop cable is not
easy as the raw
cable is 4 twisted pairs, the power pair being thicker wire than the
other 3. [...]
However, it may break all the rules, but for short
lengths -- say
about 10cm, I think you's get away with a bit of IDC ribbon cable and
IDC conenctors. You probably don't nbeed ot bother with the locking
screws or climsp, jsut make up the cable and plug both ends in
That matches my own experience. I made an AUI extender (to bring
network out of a cobbled-together case) from a foot or so of ribbon
cable and two solder-cup DA15s (one of each sex). Worked perfectly
fine for me - though admittedly I put the transceiver directly on the
extender, rather than using a long(er) drop cable. I daresay the
impedance bump matters, but for lengths that short it apparently
doesn't matter enough to impair functionality - I deliberately tried to
push it and found that using something like fifteen feet of the same
ribbon cable instead, it sort-of worked but I with an unusably high
error rate (something like 2/3 of packets produced errors). The ribbon
cable in question was not the twisted-pair sort.
My extender also didn't bother with mechanical locking of any sort,
depending instead on friction between mating DA15s. Of course, the
intended use case did not involve significant levels of mechanical
stress or vibration, so, as always, YMMV.
Mouse
2:01 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-
bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: 14 September 2013 20:56
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Wierd AUI Connector on VAXstation 2000
>
> I just collected a VAXstation 2000 that has an AUI connector on the
back.
The trouble is
that the connector is a bit strange. It has screw holes
like you might get for screwing in a serial cable or a video cable,
rather than the locking slider that grips some studs on the cable you
are connecting (or a transceiver in my case).
Is it possible to get an AUI cable or a transceiver that will fit this
connector or must I physically modify something I already have?
Some machines did indeed have screwposts, not the sliding clip. PERQs did,
for example.
If the connector is a DA15, it is very likely that it is the standard PERQs were), the difference is the locking system
only.
There seem to be 2 solutions :
1) Replace the screwposts with the locking clip and screws. I _think_
those
locking kits are still available, although mot easy to
find or cheap. Look
inside
the machine before you start dismandling anything to
see if the posts go
into
tapped bushes in the socket or if there are loose nuts
ot worry about.
2) Make up a cable. Maingt the AUI drop cable is not easy as the raw cable
is
4 twisted pairs, the power pair being thicker wire
than the other 3. When
I
was looking for some about 20 years ago I couldn't
find anyone who would
sell me less than a 100m reel (not cheap!). I finally found a freindly
networking person who gave me an 'offcut'.
However, it may break all the rules, but for short lengths -- say about
10cm, I
think you's get away with a bit of IDC ribbon
cable and IDC conenctors.
You
probably don't nbeed ot bother with the locking
screws or climsp, jsut
make
up the cable and plug both ends in
-tony
I have found a temporary solution. When I looked at an AUI cable I had, I
realised I could unscrew the studs. This allowed me to plug the cable in and
connect the transceiver to the other end. However I would like to find a
more permanent solution. I like the idea of finding a locking clip best, I
will have a go at finding one and also take a look inside the machine to see
if it is feasible.
Thanks
Rob
3:29 p.m.
On Sat, Sep 14, 2013 at 5:01 PM, Robert Jarratt
<robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote:
I have found a temporary solution. When I looked at an
AUI cable I had, I
realised I could unscrew the studs. This allowed me to plug the cable in and
connect the transceiver to the other end. However I would like to find a
more permanent solution. I like the idea of finding a locking clip best, I
will have a go at finding one and also take a look inside the machine to see
if it is feasible.
I just checked. Digikey still sells slide lock kits. Used one when I
made a short transceiver cable for my Sun 2/120, which has only screw
posts.
Jim
15 Sep
15 Sep
11:28 a.m.
I have found a temporary solution. When I looked at an
AUI cable I had, I
realised I could unscrew the studs. This allowed me to plug the cable in and
connect the transceiver to the other end. However I would like to find a
more permanent solution. I like the idea of finding a locking clip best, I
will have a go at finding one and also take a look inside the machine to see
if it is feasible.
If you unscrewed the screwposts and nothing (like nuts and washers) fell
off inside the machine, it means that said screwposts screwed into tapped
bushes in something, probably a PCB-mounded DA15 connector.
The slidelock assembly wil lfit the same holes, the spacing is
essentially standardised. The screw thread is almost certainly 4-40 UNC,
which agains is standard for this sort of thing.
-tony
2:23 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-
bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: 15 September 2013 19:28
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Wierd AUI Connector on VAXstation 2000
off
I have found a temporary solution. When I looked
at an AUI cable I
had, I realised I could unscrew the studs. This allowed me to plug the
cable in and connect the transceiver to the other end. However I would
like to find a more permanent solution. I like the idea of finding a
locking clip best, I will have a go at finding one and also take a
look inside the machine to see if it is feasible.
If you unscrewed the screwposts and nothing (like nuts and washers) fell inside the machine, it means that said screwposts
screwed into tapped
bushes in something, probably a PCB-mounded DA15 connector.
Actually that is not what I did. I unscrewed the lugs that were on the
connector attached to the AUI cable. I have not done anything to the
VAXstation 2000 itself.
The slidelock assembly wil lfit the same holes, the
spacing is essentially
standardised. The screw thread is almost certainly 4-40 UNC, which agains
is
standard for this sort of thing.
I hope everything is standard so that I stand a chance of fitting the slide
lock to the VAXstation 2000.
Thanks
Rob
-tony
14 Sep
14 Sep
11:53 p.m.
On Sat, 14 Sep 2013, Tony Duell wrote:
On Sat, 14 Sep 2013, Robert Jarratt wrote:
I just collected a VAXstation 2000 that has an
AUI connector on the
back. The trouble is that the connector is a bit strange. It has screw
holes like you might get for screwing in a serial cable or a video
cable, rather than the locking slider that grips some studs on the
cable you are connecting (or a transceiver in my case).
Is it possible to get an AUI cable or a transceiver that will fit this
connector or must I physically modify something I already have?
Some machines did indeed have screwposts, not the sliding clip. PERQs
did, for example.
If the connector is a DA15, it is very likely that it is the standard
wiring (again PERQs were), the difference is the locking system only.
There seem to be 2 solutions :
1) Replace the screwposts with the locking clip and screws. I _think_
those locking kits are still available, although mot easy to find or
cheap. Look inside the machine before you start dismandling anything to
see if the posts go into tapped bushes in the socket or if there are
loose nuts ot worry about.
2) Make up a cable. Maingt the AUI drop cable is not easy as the raw
cable is 4 twisted pairs, the power pair being thicker wire than the
other 3. When I was looking for some about 20 years ago I couldn't find
anyone who would sell me less than a 100m reel (not cheap!). I finally
found a freindly networking person who gave me an 'offcut'.
However, it may break all the rules, but for short lengths -- say about
10cm, I think you's get away with a bit of IDC ribbon cable and IDC
conenctors. You probably don't nbeed ot bother with the locking screws or
climsp, jsut make up the cable and plug both ends in From memory, the spacing between the screwposts is too
far apart and they
are usually permanently installed, so you can't just replace
them with the
slide lock mechanism. The earlier AUI connectors often used a clip that
slipped onto the studs on the cable's connector which had captive screws
that would line up with the screwposts.
7:20 p.m.
No, there are cables for that. I just came across a whole box of them while
I was packing for my move.
TTFN - Guy
On Sep 14, 2013, at 7:46 AM, "Robert Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at
ntlworld.com> wrote:
I just collected a VAXstation 2000 that has an AUI
connector on the back.
The trouble is that the connector is a bit strange. It has screw holes like
you might get for screwing in a serial cable or a video cable, rather than
the locking slider that grips some studs on the cable you are connecting (or
a transceiver in my case).
Is it possible to get an AUI cable or a transceiver that will fit this
connector or must I physically modify something I already have?
Regards
Rob
4116
days inactive
4117
days old
9 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
ggs＠shiresoft.com -
IanK＠LivingComputerMuseum.org -
jim＠deitygraveyard.com -
mouse＠Rodents-Montreal.ORG -
robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com -
tothwolf＠concentric.net