19 Mar
2003
19 Mar
'03
6:21 a.m.
What is DEC AUI Cable? ie: What is it used for, and what kind of wire is
inside?
I have 3 lengths of the stuff, and its stiff as hell. Feels like maybe
multiple strands of co-ax or something. The jacket is labeled 4PR so that
might make sense. It has 15 pin D-shell right angle connectors on it.
I'm just curious about it.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
19 Mar
19 Mar
6:53 a.m.
chris wrote:
What is DEC AUI Cable? ie: What is it used for, and what kind of wire is
inside?
I have 3 lengths of the stuff, and its stiff as hell. Feels like maybe
multiple strands of co-ax or something. The jacket is labeled 4PR so that
might make sense. It has 15 pin D-shell right angle connectors on it.
I'm just curious about it.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Good old fashioned ethernet cable. Ever see one of those 15 pin
connectors with a slide-lock on a NIC? That's what they hook to.
BTW, when are you gonna stop by up here, and get your goodies? ;)
--
---Dave Woyciesjes
---ICQ# 905818
7:03 a.m.
On Wed, 19 Mar 2003, chris wrote:
What is DEC AUI Cable? ie: What is it used for, and
what kind of wire is
inside?
I have 3 lengths of the stuff, and its stiff as hell. Feels like maybe
multiple strands of co-ax or something. The jacket is labeled 4PR so
that might make sense. It has 15 pin D-shell right angle connectors on
it.
I'm just curious about it.
It's used to connect an AUI transceiver to an AUI network interface. Ages
ago (well, has it really been *that* long ago?), you'd have a run of RG11
coax that you would literally drill into and attach a tap to. You would
then attach the ethernet transceiver to the tap, which would be cabled to
the computer's network interface with an AUI cable. Later on, as RG11
backbones were replaced UTP, fiber, and even RG58 in some cases, other
transceivers were produced, and conversion kits were also available for
the older tap-type transceivers so they could use a BNC connector.
The cable contains, if memory serves, 4 twisted pairs each with a foil
wrap shield, possibly a 5th unshielded pair for 12VDC (can't remember for
sure, maybe one of the 4 pairs is normally used for this), and everything
is then covered with a mylar plastic wrap, a foil shield, and then a
braided shield. To top it off, many cables use a Teflon jacket, which
makes them suitable for use in air plenums (suspended ceilings). PVC
jacketed cables are not suitable for plenum use, since PVC will release a
toxic gas if heated above a certain temperature, as would happen in a
fire.
(Yep, I'm back. My ISP had major issues for ~2 months, and I finally got
someone to take notice and do something about them. Now I have a 2500-3000
classiccmp message backlog to read over...)
-Toth
9:38 a.m.
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
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
20 Mar
20 Mar
10:31 a.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
I got the type of shell that's made in 2 halves, so I didn't have to feed
the cable through a small hole...
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.
That's exactly what happeend it the end -- I found a friendly
network-cabling person and he gave me a couple of metres of the cable.
-tony
23 Mar
23 Mar
6:48 p.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
That's what we used, too. However, it is still kind of an advanced
exercise to cut the wires to a suitable length before stripping and
soldering, so that after these steps they will fit into the small shell
together with the strain relief clamp, in particular if you want the
metalized shell to be properly grounded from the inside...
If you had managed that for the first time, you would usually discover
that you forgot to slip that rubber tube onto the cable to prevent it
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
I got the type of shell that's made in 2 halves, so I didn't have to feed
the cable through a small hole... from breaking where it leaves the plug. If it happens
when you managed
the second time, then it's worse, because you cannot drop it
in from the
other end of the cable... - But this is nothing special with transceiver
cable, it happens with all sort of cabling, all the time. It only seems
to vary in proportion to the number of pins inside the connector... ;-)
--
Andreas Freiherr
Vishay Semiconductor GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany
http://www.vishay.com
24 Mar
24 Mar
9:44 a.m.
If you had managed that for the first time, you would
usually discover
that you forgot to slip that rubber tube onto the cable to prevent it
Been there, done that, got a semi-infinite number of T-shirts :-) It's
particularly annoying wben I forget to fit the outer cover of a mini-DIN
plug before soldering and sleeving all the wires, but then mini-DIN plugs
are always annouying!
-tony
7944
days inactive
7949
days old
7 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
Andreas.Freiherr＠Vishay.com -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
cb＠mythtech.net -
dwoyciesjes＠comcast.net -
tothwolf＠concentric.net