Model T Serial Cable

Summary

The ideal cable to go from a PC to a Model 100, 102, 200, or 600, would be described as "9F/25M serial null-modem full-handshake".

That is an uncommon configuration to find in a single cable without needing adapters or needing to build it yourself custom.

The serial ports on Models 100-600 are wired DTE, the same as a com port on a PC, but with a female connector, unlike any pc.

This is a backwards configuration from everything else today. It has been suggested that maybe this is actually the original standard, and IBM came along later and changed it by putting male connectors on their PCs (probably to distinguish them from the printer port), but the standard today is that DTE ports are male. A female 25 pin port is either a parallel printer port or a DCE port on a modem.

That means that usually you always need some kind of adapter between a PC and a M100/102/200/600, because none of the normal cables you will have lying around will have the right combination of wiring and connectors.

The easiest way to connect with parts you are most likely to already have lying around, is to use a common 9F/25M Modem Cable combined with a 9M/F Null-Modem Adapter.

Ideal Cables

These cables are wired null-modem, have all the connections for hardware flow-control, and the right connectors on both ends, all in one factory-molded piece. You don't need any null-modem adapters or gender-changer adapters.

• C2G 03019 Amazon CDW

DCD+DSR<-->DTR

S+PG

No RI

Cable is thin. Good for portablity, but might mean the wires are thin and possibly not durable.

• Amphenol CS-DSNL4259MF-005

DCD+DSR<-->DTR

S+PG

No RI

Includes nuts (removable) on the 9-pin plug screws, so you can screw a usb-serial adapter together to the cable, no matter whether the usb-serial adapter has screws or nuts.

• StarTech SCNM925FM

No DCD

No RI

Slightly Less Ideal Cables

These cables actually work fine for everything(*). They are "less-ideal" only because the RTS/CTS hardware flow control lines are self-satisfied (shorted, looped-back), or missing, or wired in some non-standard way like connecting DSR/DTR to CTS. But they have the correct physical plugs, and correct TX/RX wiring, and so they work fine for software flow-control.

And software flow-control is the only thing any of the old software ever used. The system rom doesn't even contain anything that accesses the RTS/CTS lines, not in BASIC nor TELCOM.

(*) The exception to "everything": The hardware in Models 100-600 can do RTS/CTS. The pins on the DB25 connector are wired up to the UART. But to use those signals, you have to manipulate the UART registers yourself from a machine language program. The only software I know of that does this to date is HTERM. So these cables are NOT suitable for HTERM.

• Monoprice 479

DCD<-->RTS+CTS

RI<-->RI

No other cable here has the RI signal, not even the full-hardware ideal cables above. It's interesting to note, but isn't generally useful for connecting a M100 to a PC. RI is needed when you want an external modem to answer incoming calls. IE, run a BBS or dial-in remote control software on your M100, with an external modem instead of the built-in modem. And even in that special case, you don't want a NULL-modem cable, you need a MODEM cable, with straigt-through wiring, not null-modem wiring. RI in a null-modem cable would only be useful for something like running a modem emulator on the PC.

• CableWholesale 10D1-2103

DCD<-->RTS+CTS

No RI

• CableWholesale 10D1-13306

This "HP PLotter" cable is bizarre.

DCD<-->RTS

DSR+CTS<-->DTR

No RI

This is a very unusual type of cable. If you don't have an HP plotter, I would not recommend getting this. But, strictly for the TX/RX and the physical connectors, as long as the software is ignoring RTS/CTS and DSR/DTR, it does work, so if you do have an HP (or IBM) plotter, then you could use this for both.

• Tripp-Lite P456-006

DCD<-->RTS+CTS

No RI

• Epson CEPS-003BLK

DTR<-->DCD+RTS+CTS

No RI

USB-Serial Adaters

Any one will work well enough. But some considerations are:

Models based on FTDI chips are generally better than the ones based on Prolific chips.

The serial cables all have screws in the plugs, so if you get a usb-serial adapter that has nuts (instead of screws) then the serial cable can be locked onto the usb-serial adapter with the screws.

• Sabrent SBT-FTDI
• Tera Grande 3ft w/ jack nuts
• TrendNet TU-S9 (Prolific-based, but better than most other Prolific-based)