setting up a procat flash?

[Elise D]

Hi,

I've left the original booklet that came with the procat flash in the shop where I brought an adaptor yesterday! Frustrating. However, I think I'll probably need some help since I'm such a newbie. Does anyone have a picture of the setup from procat flash to laptop to use plover?  i.e. cords/whether I need adaptors etc?

Thanks.

[Elise D]

this is the author editing - 

so I've done some searching and I see this....

http://shop.procat.com/Impression-Stylus-Flash-Realtime-cable-AC016-K.htm

so the 'cable' looks like a 'normal' telephone cable which I have here and it fits in my procat flash. So presuming I could just go to the local electrical shop and buy the adaptor that's pictured? It's just that it says 'This product is designed to work with all of the professional writers that are manufactured by ProCAT, which includes Impression, Stylus, Flash, and Stenopaq. "  so not sure whether I can go looking for something generic?

Hope that makes sense,

Thanks.

[Ted Morin]

Glen will no doubt be most knowledgeable on this subject but I believe the cables are special and must be purchased as compatible with the ProCAT machines. You can find them on other steno stores than procat.com

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[Glen Warner]

Hi, Elise.

You are correct -- you need that cable and the adapter shown in the picture ... but I found one that's a bit cheaper:

http://www.stenoworks.com/cable-procat-flash-realtime-cable-10-ft

It's probably second-hand, though, as opposed to what you would get from ProCAT directly.

As for the cable itself, it is basically a telephone cable, but the wiring is different ... but before you order anything, check all of the pockets in the case your writer (hopefully) shipped with. You might find just what you need ... but if not, well, now you have two links to buy another one, if need be.

It might be a good idea to buy a second cable as well, if you can, but if you can't, you should be able to take the cable to an electronics repair shop and (hopefully) they'll be able to convert a standard telephone cord to what you need.

Good luck!

--gdw

[Elise D]

Thank you Glen, extremely helpful as always.
Unfortunately my experience so far with a pro cat flash and Australian electrical shops has been disastrous so I think I'll be buying online.
Yes I will recheck the bag because everything from the ribbon to the little screwdrivers to the original manual was there.
Can't see your original post so hope I've addressed everything.
Ah, actually, is there a preference towards serial port or usb? I have plenty of usb ports but does that disallow me from using keyboard at same time or some other difference?
Thanks

[Glen Warner]

Hi, Elise. 

You're welcome!

The Flash was released before there was USB, so it's all about serial, so you would need a USB-serial adapter as well.  Here's how I have my Flash connected to my iMac:

Sorry about the crappy picture, but what you should be seeing is the Flash connector there on the bottom, and my KeySpan USB-Serial adapter above it, with a cable running to my iMac. That link, unfortunately, has some rather high prices, so you can also buy them from the steno resellers, like Acculaw for about ten dollars less:

http://www.acculaw.com/keyspan-usb-to-serial-adapter.aspx 

That said, I have two of these -- mostly because the one I bought ten years ago suddenly stopped working, and after I bought another one, which I had to put together ... and by that, I mean I had to plug the USB cable into the adapter itself (not to worry; I was a tech in the Navy back in the day!). 

As I was doing that, I thought, "Wait a minute.  What if I were to plug this new cable into my old adapter?"

Plugged it in, connected it to my MacBook Pro, and the light immediately came on, indicating a good connection. 

That caused a mad dash to my second bedroom -- you know, the one full of boxes and boxes of books, among other stuff -- where I found a box full of various cables ... including one just like the one that came with my new adapter. 

 ... so now I have two of 'em.

I use my old one mostly, but the new one is close by, because I have another Flash here that needs to be cleaned and fixed up a bit, but it's good for when I have to use the other Mac to write something (far too many dead keys on that one to actually type on it ... just one more thing to fix, one of these days ...). 

Well.  This transcript won't transcribe itself! Back to work for me.  Good luck!

--gdw

[Elise D]

thanks. i have the serial port on my computer so I'll stick with that. i just thought i read somewhere that one allows both keyboards to be used simultaneously, and the other doesn't.
cheers

[Glen Warner]

You're welcome!

I think I recall hearing something like that as well, but never tried it. 

--gd

[Charles Shattuck]

You might be thinking of the fact that using an NKRO keyboard prevents you from using your standard keyboard simultaneously. I don't know anything about USB vs serial causing a problem.

[Elise D]

so Glen,

just on this....

I have a brother in law in san diego at the moment - not for long. thinking of ordering the cable/s and having them sent to his hotel (rather than Oz). So, don't have much time but thinking since postage should be less I might go for the 'ridgy-didge' (are you from Oz?) version (i.e. original Procat Flash stuff). So, my laptop had to be returned (windows) and now I have a mac and I really can't guarantee which I will have going into the future. So, if I buy the original cable from here http://shop.procat.com/Impression-Stylus-Flash-Realtime-cable-AC016-K.htm , then I can only see a windows option for the usb converter.

does this matter?

I mean if i buy one original realtime cable, then get a usb converter, does it matter if I'm plugging the usb into mac or windows? and then I noticed there's 2 different windows converters. I'm just trying to cover all bases here. I'm using a work provided mac laptop and i have a work windows pc. i'm trying to buy everything I need in one hit and have it sent locally.

any suggestions? 

gosh i hope that makes sense.

[Elise D]

oh, si i've actually just re-read your post and it says imac. oops sorry for question.

so, next question.....

could I just buy this then as far as the 'adapting' side of thints goes?

http://www.staples.com/Staples-USB-to-Serial-Adapter/product_837560

On Friday, October 7, 2016 at 11:40:09 AM UTC+8, Glen Warner wrote:

[Glen Warner]

Hi, Elise.

I'm sorry I missed your message ... despite popular belief, I do sleep from time to time! :o) 

That said, looking at your Staples link, I see that it has Mac drivers so that's a good thing ... but as far as your first message, the serial cable you get from Staples would be connecting to the ProCAT cable, so yes, you would need both.

Finally, no, I'm not from Oz, but I've been there a few times, and actually have an Australian dollar coin on my keychain! I think I got it on my first visit, back in 1986 or so ... where thankfully, I didn't see any of those ginormous spiders that are said to be hanging around!

--gdw

[Elise D]

oh sharks are the more topical animal at the moment. my b-i-l is buying the original procat and i'll buy the adaptor here. bring on the fast speeds! thanks.

[Glen Warner]

Ha ha ha! I don't swim, either!

--gdw