SmartLink Cable Pinout?
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ke...@martinzone.org
Jun 23, 2014, 1:10:36 AM6/23/14
to tectr...@googlegroups.com
Does anyone have any detail on the SmartLink cable that connects two bikes together? I'm trying to get two bikes working and the cable was lost and I can't seem to find the pinout online anywhere. Also if someone has details about the terminator plug, that would also be appreciated.
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Ken
Steve Neago
Oct 19, 2014, 11:34:39 PM10/19/14
to tectr...@googlegroups.com, ke...@martinzone.org
If I recall correctly, the TectrixVr used Apple Computer's free AppleTalk communications protocol to link VRs together on a small and closed AppleTalk network.
Note! Your TectrixVRs cannot be linked to nor share bandwidth with wired Ethernet computers or the Internet on the same network cable.
AppleTalk was Apple Computer's 1980s - early 90s attempt to expand Mac product sales by using existing telephone wiring within consumer homes for computer networks. The idea was innovative, but later failed because most consumers and small businesses found that rewiring their house for AppleTalk to be cumbersome and the finished AppleTalk network slow in speed. Later consumer's use of high-speed wired Ethernet/Internet access, wireless Ethernet access, and small hand-held smartphones have relegated AppleTalk useage to vintage obscurity.
Fortunately for you, making and using your own AppleTalk connecting cable is simple! Just find a standard flat straight-through telephone cable with 4-wire telephone conductors and RJ-11 straight-through wire Male telephone jacks on each end. Attach the two TectrixVRs by placing the telephone wire jacks in the RJ-11 Female connectors on the front bottom of each VR. I believe (not verified) that TectrixVRs only use the inner 2 wires (not the outer 2 wires) for data transfer. The telephone wire connecting the TectrixVRs should NEVER be bent, never wound, nor tied together because this will cause small electrical interference that may disrupt communications between the TectrixVRs.
To be on the safe side and allow the VRs to communicate, I would use 2 AppleTalk terminators - one on the beginning TectrixVR and one on the ending TectrixVR on a network chain. Place each terminator in the unused RJ-11 female jack next to the installed AppleTalk data cable. In early AppleTalk networks, both the starting computer and the ending computer in a network chain had to have terminators to enable the network to function. Later AppleTalk hardware releases only required a terminator on one side of the network chain.
Most likely, the Resistor needed can be purchased from a Radio Shack store so you can make your own AppleTalk Terminators with a telephone jack crimper. The Appletalk Terminator used was a standard RJ-11 male connector (4 conductor telephone wire) with an unknown size Resistor attached to the inner pair of conductors. If you need additional help, I can hunt down an Appletalk terminator to look at the resistor color markings and give you the resistance in Ohms.
BTW, I have vintage experience with AppleTalk, have owned Apple Macs since early 1984, and I use to support Macs in the mid 1990s at a large Fortune 50 company HQ.
Regards, Steve N
Cincinnati
Note! Your TectrixVRs cannot be linked to nor share bandwidth with wired Ethernet computers or the Internet on the same network cable.
AppleTalk was Apple Computer's 1980s - early 90s attempt to expand Mac product sales by using existing telephone wiring within consumer homes for computer networks. The idea was innovative, but later failed because most consumers and small businesses found that rewiring their house for AppleTalk to be cumbersome and the finished AppleTalk network slow in speed. Later consumer's use of high-speed wired Ethernet/Internet access, wireless Ethernet access, and small hand-held smartphones have relegated AppleTalk useage to vintage obscurity.
Fortunately for you, making and using your own AppleTalk connecting cable is simple! Just find a standard flat straight-through telephone cable with 4-wire telephone conductors and RJ-11 straight-through wire Male telephone jacks on each end. Attach the two TectrixVRs by placing the telephone wire jacks in the RJ-11 Female connectors on the front bottom of each VR. I believe (not verified) that TectrixVRs only use the inner 2 wires (not the outer 2 wires) for data transfer. The telephone wire connecting the TectrixVRs should NEVER be bent, never wound, nor tied together because this will cause small electrical interference that may disrupt communications between the TectrixVRs.
To be on the safe side and allow the VRs to communicate, I would use 2 AppleTalk terminators - one on the beginning TectrixVR and one on the ending TectrixVR on a network chain. Place each terminator in the unused RJ-11 female jack next to the installed AppleTalk data cable. In early AppleTalk networks, both the starting computer and the ending computer in a network chain had to have terminators to enable the network to function. Later AppleTalk hardware releases only required a terminator on one side of the network chain.
Most likely, the Resistor needed can be purchased from a Radio Shack store so you can make your own AppleTalk Terminators with a telephone jack crimper. The Appletalk Terminator used was a standard RJ-11 male connector (4 conductor telephone wire) with an unknown size Resistor attached to the inner pair of conductors. If you need additional help, I can hunt down an Appletalk terminator to look at the resistor color markings and give you the resistance in Ohms.
BTW, I have vintage experience with AppleTalk, have owned Apple Macs since early 1984, and I use to support Macs in the mid 1990s at a large Fortune 50 company HQ.
Regards, Steve N
Cincinnati
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