[thwgw24]

Is BMS the only place I can order the cable from?
$42 shipped for a cable doesn't sound right to me.

[pcmike]

If its an consolation to you..... guys who don't take the risk on some random USB/serial cable for their V4 end up paying $41 for the RadioShack USB/serial cable. :P

In all seriousness, the pins in the serial connector are not standard and its probably best to just buy the BMS cable directly.

[bulldog_yyc]

wow you are complaining about $42? DIY then.......

[thwgw24]

I paid $13 shipped for the cable when I was using Procede back then.
I just don't understand what's so special about this cable for JB3.

[pcmike]

thewgw24, the only thing special about this cable versus one you would buy off on the internet is this one only has 3 pins in the serial connector. You could easily make your own for cheap, but you have no idea what the 3 pins go back to on the USB side unless you get your hands on a cable and disassemble it and at $42 shipped, it probably isn't worth the time/effort? Plus, BMS probably won't support the cable if you built it on your own.. understandably.

[thwgw24]

Originally Posted by pcmike

thewgw24, the only thing special about this cable versus one you would buy off on the internet is this one only has 3 pins in the serial connector. You could easily make your own for cheap, but you have no idea what the 3 pins go back to on the USB side unless you get your hands on a cable and disassemble it and at $42 shipped, it probably isn't worth the time/effort? Plus, BMS probably won't support the cable if you built it on your own.. understandably.

that's exactly what I want to know. So there are structural differences.

[dmurray14]

Originally Posted by pcmike

thewgw24, the only thing special about this cable versus one you would buy off on the internet is this one only has 3 pins in the serial connector. You could easily make your own for cheap, but you have no idea what the 3 pins go back to on the USB side unless you get your hands on a cable and disassemble it and at $42 shipped, it probably isn't worth the time/effort? Plus, BMS probably won't support the cable if you built it on your own.. understandably.

Uh, why would you need more than 3? It's probably TX, RX, and GND. Standard serial. If they used anything other that the standard RS232 pins then that's stupid.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

You can also make your own but may not save much. The cable is only 35.00 and if you buy it from me or BMS you will know it works and is done right. I am surprised people are complaining about the cost

If you love to DIY here is some help.

Get a 5V FTDI leveler cable here:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...S6UR9QpQ%3d%3d
for $20 + shipping.

Then buy some DSUB pins, a DB9 housing, and a backshell. Crimp and attach as shown and you'll be off and running.

Mike


.

[pcmike]

Mike,

Could you please get a clearer shot of that last picture showing which pins are being used by which wires in the DSUB connector?

Thank you.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by pcmike

Mike,

Could you please get a clearer shot of that last picture showing which pins are being used by which wires in the DSUB connector?

Thank you.

That is the only photo I have. They just go along the bottom row. The key is using a cable with a 5V leveler built in along with the FTDI chipset. This is the only one I know of. A standard cable or standard cable with pins moved around will either not work or damage the JB3 control module.

Mike

[Donald-335i]

just buy it once from bms and its done.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

LOL just buy it, screw making that, Ive lost more money in a bar.

[supahdave]

MOAR pics of Avatar chick JPslick.

[thwgw24]

Already placed an order!

[Donald-335i]

Originally Posted by thwgw24

Already placed an order!

good job partna! post up some logs!

[alpinedevil335]

Originally Posted by supahdave

MOAR pics of Avatar chick JPslick.

+1

[taratorko]

Ok, as a happy owner of a brand new JB3, I thought I'd share my input. If you have some soldering skills, you could actually make yourself one for $2.99 I don't undersatnd why the cost is so high (as there is no know-how included

Here is the deal. The FTDI chip inside the cable is nothing more than a standard UART to serial converter; it has NO MAGIC LEVELER inside (check the datasheet here:
(http://www.ftdichip.com/Documents/Da...ABLES_V201.pdf). It's a straight pass through, since a USB port supplies exactly 5v (well, voltage by a host or a powered hub ports is between 4.75 V and 5.25 V). I have no clue why they've opted for FTDI, as the cheapest and most widely used UART is the Profilic PL-2303.

Typical USB to serial converters actually boost the levels from 5v to 10v by using additional chips (e.g. MAX232), which implies that they should be more expensive than a standard TTL cable. However, one could get such cable wihtin the $3 range from dealextreme.com. It would require bypassing the booster chip however in order to keep the levels at 5v, which could be PIA.

Here come the good news. the cheapest one from DX is $2.99 (shipped FREE):
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.24512

In fact, it's so cheap, that even though it says RS232 compliant, they stopped putting the max232 booster chip and it is a straight TTL device - it only has the PL-2303 chip inside

If you go to discussions, and open the "Internal technical details please?" thread, you'll see people posting pictures of it. In the beginning, they used to put a voltage booster, but that's no longer the case. Most people who ordered lately have received the newer Y-105C version, which is the one we need. However, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE WHICH VERSION YOU WILL GET FROM DX, but I took my chances and ordered one. Keep my fingers crossed it's the cheapo one.

Once you get the "brown thingie" board, all you need to do is to redirect the Tx pin by some soldering. I'll keep you posted and post some pictures once I receive it.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by Cleopatra

Ok, as a happy owner of a brand new JB3, I thought I'd share my input. If you have some soldering skills, you could actually make yourself one for $2.99 I don't undersatnd why the cost is so high (as there is no know-how included

Here is the deal. The FTDI chip inside the cable is nothing more than a standard UART to serial converter; it has NO MAGIC LEVELER inside (check the datasheet here:
(http://www.ftdichip.com/Documents/Da...ABLES_V201.pdf). It's a straight pass through, since a USB port supplies exactly 5v (well, voltage by a host or a powered hub ports is between 4.75 V and 5.25 V). I have no clue why they've opted for FTDI, as the cheapest and most widely used UART is the Profilic PL-2303.

Typical USB to serial converters actually boost the levels from 5v to 10v by using additional chips (e.g. MAX232), which implies that they should be more expensive than a standard TTL cable. However, one could get such cable wihtin the $3 range from dealextreme.com. It would require bypassing the booster chip however in order to keep the levels at 5v, which could be PIA.

Here come the good news. the cheapest one from DX is $2.99 (shipped FREE):
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.24512

In fact, it's so cheap, that even though it says RS232 compliant, they stopped putting the max232 booster chip and it is a straight TTL device - it only has the PL-2303 chip inside

If you go to discussions, and open the "Internal technical details please?" thread, you'll see people posting pictures of it. In the beginning, they used to put a voltage booster, but that's no longer the case. Most people who ordered lately have received the newer Y-105C version, which is the one we need. However, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE WHICH VERSION YOU WILL GET FROM DX, but I took my chances and ordered one. Keep my fingers crossed it's the cheapo one.

Once you get the "brown thingie" board, all you need to do is to redirect the Tx pin by some soldering. I'll keep you posted and post some pictures once I receive it.

Sounds promising. If that device can be easily modified to work I'm sure BMS will have no problem carrying them as well. Keep us updated!

Keep in mind only 3 pins in the DB9 are used for the serial communications. The rest are live analog signals for the boost gauge and other stuff. So take caution not to connect to anything other than the three above or you may cause headaches for yourself.

Mike

[taratorko]

Received the converter, took little more than 2 weeks (can't complain about it providing the cost). It's the simple one - straight TTL . I have few other things going on, will do it in few weeks and keep you posted

[themyst]

i have a BMS 2.0 cable if anyone wants to buy it. I'm keepin my JB3 though.

[AlpineWhiteM3]

cant i just use a regular usb cable and instead of using 232r connector just use pins and attach them to jb3? i would be using this 1 time and i dont feel liek waiting for the cable to come

i have over 10 different usb cables at my house how do i know which one to use i would just cut the end off

[smallseafishie]

Does anyone know what the DB9 side pinout is?

From the pictures it looks like pin 1, 3, and 5 are used. I'm going to guess that pin 5 is GND, 1 and 3 are either TX or RX.