>I have the Mac one (9 pin din) and reckon I could go ahead and buy an
adaptor
>from my friendly Maplins (like a Tandy or Radioshack (electronics store?!))
A mini Din (Mac) to SubD (PC) adapter most likely wouldn't work as it would
turn
your cable into one of those needed to connect, for example, a modem to the
Mac. Those
beast have a different wiring. Some on this list have said that they
were able to get it to work with a null modem cable/adapter, but I have
never been able
to get this to work.
If you are sure you will never need to connect to a Mac (and if you are
capable of using
a soldering gun), the cheapest and best way would be this (following is an
excerpt from my
frequently answered questions folder, sorry to those who know it by heart
meanwhile):
....
The problem is that there
are 2 types of cables that look alike, but aren't. One is the Mac modem
cable
which has an 8 pin MiniDin Mac connector on one side and a 9 or 15 pin SubD
PC
connector on the other side. The other is "the" Newton PC cable as provided
by
Apple. Using the first cable won't work as the wiring is different. Neither
gender changers nor 9/15 pin SubD adapters will solve this problem (*).
The only way out is to either buy the original cable somewhere or make a
cable of
your own. The latter can easily be done by buying a Mac printer cable, cut
it in
the middle and solder a 9 and a 15 pin SubD connector on. That way, you
won't have to solder the (nearly unsolderable) MiniDin connector, and you
get
two cables for (approximately) the price of one. The PC side connectors are
very cheap and
easy to solder. A long Mac printer cable should be easy to get.
For the correct wiring, see http://advanix.net/~neuhaus/applserl.html
>Also, what type of power adaptor does it use? I notice on the back that it
is rated 7V - can I stick a 6V >adaptor in there?
Yes. But make absolutely sure the voltage will never exceed 7.5 volts, not
even for a fraction of
a second. Cheap unstabilized power supplies won't guarantee that. If the
voltage is 7.5 volts or less
while the power supply doesn't power anything(can be measured with a cheap
voltmeter), it is safe.
>Will normal ni-cads do if I can't do that (or as well?)
Yes. I'd recommend NiMH's, though. They are not much more expensive, but
have way more capacity.
Frank
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