The XM1541 multitask cable

Important notes

  • You definitely need Schottky-diodes for this cable, the usual 1N4148 diodes don't work with most motherboards.

Construction

You need the following parts to build this cable:

  • One solderable 6-pin male DIN plug (Commodore serial plug)
  • One solderable 25-pin male plug (PC parallel plug)
  • Four Schottky-diodes (e.g. 1N5819 or BAT85)
  • A shielded 4-wire or unshielded 5-wire cable of, preferably at most, 2 meters

Step 1. Solder one end of the cable onto the DIN plug.

Step 2. Solder those wires, that don't go through a diode, on the other end of the cable onto the parallel plug. These include the following connections:

DIN plug Parallel plug
 2, GND  18-25, GND
 3, ATN  13, SelectIn
 4, CLK  12, PaperEnd
 5, DATA  10, Ack
 6, RESET  11, Busy

Step 3. Build the diode bridges between the appropriate pins of the parallel plug. These include the following connections:

Parallel plug Parallel plug
 13, SelectIn   1, Strobe
 12, PaperEnd  14, AutoFeed
 11, Busy  17, Select
 10, Ack  16, Init

The cathodes should be pointing towards the pins in the right column of the table.

Circuit diagram:

[XM1541 multitask cable]

You can find the description of all parts used on the diagrams at the legend page.

Source: The Joe Forster-STA homepage

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