Wireless project comming up...

[techknight]

Since i am unable to find a full pinout of the powerbook duo internal modem port, I managed to find one for the Powerbook 1XX series.

once i get the SCSI SSD out of the way, i am thinking about removing the internal modem of the powerbook 180 i have here, and replacing it with a custom xBee module type setup. and replace the modem "plug" with a rubber ducky antenna.

This way, i can do appletalk, or serial communications "wireless" using xBee modules hooked to other macs as well, such as with phonenet or a localtalk cable. wouldnt that be nice? Also the xBee modules can run up to 230k without issues.

Then write a small RealBasic program to send AT commands, which configures the xBee such as encryption keys, channels, operation modes, etc.. They can operate in point-to-point or star modes. meaning you can use a network of "xBee" modules that act like the old phonenet system. but wireless

Just rambling, and thinking about doing it.

 

[MacJunky]

That.. would actually be really cool.

 

[naryasece]

I've actually been thinking the same thing for a while. MacIP tunnels TCP/IP by encapsulating the TCP/IP package in an Appletalk package. Sort of like the GatorBox.

I'm thinking a phonenet sized adapter, serial on one end, ethernet on the other, that (hopefully) could run of the power on the serial bus with some electronics that would simply wrap or unwrap the Appletalk headers, depending on the direction. Hopefully it would be transparent to the rest of the network and the Mac connected to it.

The next progression would be from ethernet to WiFi and replacements for the internal modem cards of PowerBooks. A combo ethernet/wireless card for my PowerBook 140 or 2300c would be awesome