Localtalk cable?

[benjgvps]

Is it possible to make my own localtalk cables to connect two powerbook 150 laptop computers together? it looks as if you could use ps/2 keyboard cable and some wires in between but im not sure.

Ben

 

[coius]

if you do that, there will be a LOT of cross-talk and may not work altogether. Just go to eBay and get a printer cable/Din-9 cable for the mac. They are really cheap anyways

FYI: you can use an S-Video cable for a mac keyboard/mouse

 

[Dan 7.1]

the answer is yes, you can and it will probably work fine.

the problem arises when you actually go to plug it in, its just messy and less of a hassle to use a real plug.

 

[Scott Baret]

Better yet, find some PhoneNet boxes. You can string together regular telephone wire in between them!

 

[MacJunky]

So long as it has at least 4 pins. I have found that 2 pin cables don't work with my PhoneNet boxes.

 

[benjgvps]

well the thing is that I cannot use ebay and I just spent 38 dollars on a battery and don't have a job for the computer and I don't want to spend more money on the thing since I payed $2 for the computer. so will I be able to chop off the cables of of 2 keyboards, remove pins and make a localtalk cable?

 

[tomlee59]

I doubt that you'll have any problems, because you're probably not trying to run a great distance between the two macs. Assuming that this is true, then just about anything that connects them up will work. It's not a big deal. You're not running firewire speeds! Look at it this way: As long as you don't make wiring mistakes, you can't harm anything. Just wire things up carefully, insulate any exposed connections, and you'll be good to go.

 

[benjgvps]

Well I looked at my keyboard plug in my pc and it does not look like it can fit or has the amount of pins needed to be used as a Localtalk cable. does anybody have any idea where I can get a localtalk cable in Canada other than from ebay?

 

[Patrickool93]

If you post a wanted in the Trading Post you'll probably get a response for someone that will ship you one, maybe just for cost of shipping.

 

[Charlieman]

Patrickool93 is right.

At the moment, eBay is the worst place to look for LocalTalk boxes and cables. Real world value for them is "a beer" which doesn't translate into the eBay pricing mechanism. The few people that offer LocalTalk cabling on eBay seem to believe that it is "rare".

Exceptions: ISA LocalTalk boards, Farallon hubs, ethernet bridges etc.

 

[equant]

It's times like this that it's good to be on a local "nerd" mailing list. Join a Linux, or Free Unix or Computer Hooby mailing list for your area. Then ask. I've gotten many things for a beer, or a six-pack. In fact, I'm picking up a hub with aui and bnc tomorrow that I got from asking my local linux group. In fact, I could have had 3, plus all the bnc cabling I could ever need if I wanted.

eBay is fantastic, but yeah, items that should never cost you more than $10 in the real world, always end up costing $40 including s&h. I admit, sometimes I bid anyway. Argh!

Nathan

 

[Scott Baret]

Every now and then a good deal on eBay pops up. I got like 7 LocalTalk boxes and a book for under ten bucks not long ago. Took me a while to find a deal that good though.

 

[Maccess]

So long as it has at least 4 pins. I have found that 2 pin cables don't work with my PhoneNet boxes.

Phonenet uses only two wires, however, it uses the two OUTER wires, which are not present in two-wire phone cable. Phonenet did make two wire cable which conected to the outer contacts.

But, yep, to be safe, use 4-wire RJ-11 cables.