QBone console to UART cable

[jay....@gmail.com]

In case anyone finds this useful, here's a quick little "hack" I did with my QBone today.

When I set up Unibone in my 11/05, I ended up routing the system console to the BBB (via my usb console adapter).  I very much liked this arrangement because it made it possible to access the console from anywhere in my home via SSH. 

So when I setup the QBone in my 11/73 system, I wanted to do something similar by routing the console to one of QBone's UART ports.  Since they're both RS-232 it was just a matter of piecing together the right cables, with the necessary DB connectors and some sort of modem eliminator.

Then it dawned on me that I could simply use a ribbon cable with two 10-pin IDC connectors to directly connect the console port to the QBone, without the need for any DB connectors.  The trick is to swap TX and RX between the two ends by flipping some of the conductors in the cable:

I used an exacto knife to carefully split the ribbon cable between wires 4 and 5 and 8 and 9.  I then flipped the center section of the cable 180 degrees and crimped the IDC connector.  I can now plug this cable into any of the standard 10-pin DL11 connectors to route the console (or any other serial port) to a TTY device on the Beagle Bone.

--Jay