Tried making own Serial Wideband Cable, HELP!!

[edwardzracing]

I know I'll probably get crap for this, but that's okay... I'm just hoping someone can help. I managed to try using a DB9 male to male converter instead of a male to male Null Modem, and of course it didn't work. So instead of waiting to buy one, I cut into my cables to try and make my own. I got into the RJ12 cable from EFILive, and found the 1, 2, and 5 wires... black (1), red (2) and brown (5). Okay, good deal. I got into the serial cable that came with my LC-1, and there's only a black and red wire... no white wire like the illustration here (http://forum.efilive.com/showthread.php?t=8115)

So I'm wondering if anybody knows if I were to buy like a 2.5MM phono jack from like a radio shack or something would it have the 3rd wire I'm magically missing?? This definitely sucks as I do not want to start my car until I know for sure I have my wideband talking to my FlashScan. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Brad

[mr.prick]

You can buy a pre-made cable here,
TAQCables (http://www.taquickness.com/taqcables.htm)
If buy something from Radioshack and make your own,
a DMM will come in handy so you can be sure of each wires placement to the tip.

[swingtan]

with the wire you have, is there a Black, Red and a "shield" ? The shield may be just bare copper wire strands that are wrapped around the other two wires. This would be the "white" wire in the images in the link, or the sleeve / base of the jack.

Simon

[edwardzracing]

with the wire you have, is there a Black, Red and a "shield" ? The shield may be just bare copper wire strands that are wrapped around the other two wires. This would be the "white" wire in the images in the link, or the sleeve / base of the jack.

Simon

Yeah, joecar was nice enough to tell me that the metallic sheath inside the LC1 cable is the ground... I wired this to the brown wire (#5) inside the RJ12 FlashScan cable, but it's not working... so either something is wrong with my configuration on the FlashScan or the metallic sheath isn't supposed to be wired to the brown wire. I'm also curiuos about the metallic sheath inside the RJ12 wire... does it go to anything?? I'll post a picture of how i have it wired here shortly.

[joecar]

Don't wire by colour... instead, wire by pin number/position...

you will have to use a DMM set on ohms/beeper to find which wire goes to which band on the stereo plug:




RJ12 LC-1 Jack Name
---- --------- -----------
1 <---> 1 (tip) = Tx Data
2 <---> 2 (middle) = Rx Data
5 <---> 3 (base) = Ground

http://forum.efilive.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4047&d=1224115590

[joecar]

You may have Tx and Rx swapped.

[edwardzracing]

Don't wire by colour... instead, wire by pin number/position...

you will have to use a DMM set on ohms/beeper to find which wire goes to which band on the stereo plug:




RJ12 LC-1 Jack Name
---- --------- -----------
1 <---> 1 (tip) = Tx Data
2 <---> 2 (middle) = Rx Data
5 <---> 3 (base) = Ground


http://forum.efilive.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4047&d=1224115590

So the black wire in the LC1 cable isn't necessarily the Tx wire, same for the red wire not necessarily being the Rx wire?? Hmm, interesting. Now I'm really confused. About the DMM... would I have to have the stereo plug from the LC-1 hooked up to my "Serial Out" port on the LC-1 with the key on or could I check it from in my house? Same question for the RJ12 cable. Sorry, I know these are really stupid questions, but I'm just trying to make sure I troubleshoot this correctly. Thanks guys!

Brad

[joecar]

With DMM set to ohms (and the beeper on), probe between each band on the stereo jack and each stripped wire to locate which wire goes to which band... i.e. you use the continuity feature of your DMM to find which band goes where...

you do that ^ with the stereo plug and DMM layed out on your kitchen table... nothing else plugged in.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you have it all wired up, then:

Yes, stereo plug goes into LC-1 SERIAL OUT.

The terminator stereo plug (having external no wires, came with your LC-1) goes into LC-1 SERIAL IN... without this nothing works.

LC-1 has to be powered up for serial comms to work.

-----------------------------------------------------------

No problem, it's stupid if you get stuck and don't ask.

Cheers,
Joe
:)

[edwardzracing]

With DMM set to ohms (and the beeper on), probe between each band on the stereo jack and each stripped wire to locate which wire goes to which band... i.e. you use the continuity feature of your DMM to find which band goes where...

you do that ^ with the stereo plug and DMM layed out on your kitchen table... nothing else plugged in.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you have it all wired up, then:

Yes, stereo plug goes into LC-1 SERIAL OUT.

The terminator stereo plug (having external no wires, came with your LC-1) goes into LC-1 SERIAL IN... without this nothing works.

LC-1 has to be powered up for serial comms to work.

-----------------------------------------------------------

No problem, it's stupid if you get stuck and don't ask.

Cheers,
Joe
:)

Okay... I follow so far... final question (I think, :hihi:) There is a metallic sheath inside the RJ12 wire similar to that found inside the LC-1 Serial Cable. Do I hook that with the ground wires (brown #5, and metallic sheath from LC-1) or do I just discard it?? Figured I'd ask before I go and test again. Thanks a ton, Joe.

Brad

[joecar]

If the LC-1-sheath has continuity to the stereo-base then:

RJ12-#5 --> LC-1-sheath

i.e. ignore the sheath inside the RJ12 cable.

BTW: my RJ12-#5 is white, not brown... don't go by colour, go by position/number.

[edwardzracing]

If the LC-1-sheath has continuity to the stereo-base then:

RJ12-#5 --> LC-1-sheath

i.e. ignore the sheath inside the RJ12 cable.

BTW: my RJ12-#5 is white, not brown... don't go by colour, go by position/number.

Okay... I'm going to ignore the sheath inside the RJ12 wire. I thought the #5 wire would be white as well, but apparently it's not. I know it's number 5, so that wire shouldn't be the problem. Hopefully I just have the Rx and Tx wires mismatched. I'll update here shortly after I go test again with them swapped. Thanks, Joe.

Brad

[edwardzracing]

Bingo, Rx and Tx were backwards. Much appreciation to everyone that responded... thanks for sticking with me, lol.