You will not likely find these components at Radio Shack; try you local electronic supplier.

Getting Started

The RJ-11 / RJ-12 cable looks like the familiar cable that plugs into telephones. But is not the same. It is a six-wire connector; the telephone cable is a four-wire cable. DO NOT USE A TELEPHONE CABLE TO CONNECT TO THE DISPLAY BOARD.

The wires in the cable are color-coded; you can see the colors at the connector ends. The cable may be a "cross-over" type (ie, wires may "cross-over" so that pin #x on one end connects to pin #y at the other end. This is handy when connecting the 'transmit data' pin of one connector to the 'receive data' pin or a similar connector). Or the cable may be a "straight-through" type. You need to be aware of this so you don't accidentally get wires in the wrong place.

To make sure you know which wires are connected to which contacts at both ends of the cable, hold the two cables end-to-end, and check the colors. If the colors line up, then each pair of pins from top to bottom are connected with a common wire.

Fig. 1: The RJ-11-to-DB-9 Adaptor is used to connect the cable to your computer. Your computer does not have a connector for an RJ-11 cable. That look-alike connector on your compuer is a telephone modem, NOT an RJ-11. You need to connect the scoreboard cable to your computer's serial (COM) port. Which is why you need the adaptor.

The adaptor is a two-piece gizzmo. The body contains the connector for the RJ-11 cable, and will have six wires hanging out of it. The other piece, the DB-9 plug, connects to your computer's serial port. The wires come with pin connectors attach, you only need to push the correct wires into the correct holes.

. Fig. 2: RJ-11 to DB-9 adaptor

FIg. 3: NOTE: Some adapters do not come with pin connectors attached. In this case, you need to solder wires to the DB-9 plug.

You will need to attach three of the six wires (probably the white, red and green) to the DB-9 plug. But we're not going to depend upon colors. Rather, we will describe this in terms of the function of each connector, which will eliminate confusion.

Sign Board Connector

Fig. 4: Display board

Look into the cable connector of the scoreboard. You will see six brass-colored contacts. From left to right, these connectors are:

1. Unused
2. Unused
3. Receive Data
4. Transmit Data
5. Unused
6. Ground

Adaptor Connector

Now look into the cable connector of the adaptor,

Fig. 5: Adaptor

From left to right, these contacts are:

1. Ground (white)
2. Unused
3. Receive Data (red)
4. Transmit Data (green)
5. Unused
6. Unused

Turn the adapter around and look closely in the other end; a magnifying glass and extra light may help. You will see two rows which sort of zig-zag up and down.

Remember you are now looking from right-to-left. The RIGHT - TO - LEFT SEQUENCE is:

White (ground); Black (unused); Red (receive); Green (transmit);Yellow (unused); Blue (unused);

NOTE: Your adaptor may have a different set of colors. However, the positions will be the same.

Now check out the BACK SIDE of the DB-9 connector. This is where you will be attaching wires. The 'pins' are numbered. When looking at the BACK SIDE, pin #1 it in the upper-left corner and, moving across the top row from left-to-right, you will find pins 2, 3, 4 anf 5. Moving from right to left across the bottom row, you will see pins 6, 7, 8 and 9. When looked at from the front side, pin #1 is upper-left; pin #9, lower right.

Fig. 6: DB-9 connector, back side, push-in type

Fig. 7: DB-9 connector, back side, solder type

Looking at the DB-9 connecector from the FRONT SIDE, the pin numbers will appear in reverse of the back side. Pin #1 will be in the upper-right corner.

Fig. 8: DB-9 connector, front side

Making Connections

You will use only 3 of the adaptor's 6 wires:

• The Receive Data wire of the RJ-11 Adaptor (Pin #3) connects to the Transmit Data wire of the DB-9 connector (Pin #3) .
• The Transmit Data wire of the RJ-11 Adaptor (Pin #4) connects to the Receive Data wire of the DB-9 (pin #2).
• The Ground wire of the RJ-11 Adaptor (Pin #1) connects to the Ground Wire of the DB-9 (pin #5).

If you have the solder-type connector, strip off 1/4" insulation from the ends of the adaptor's RECEIVE, TRANSMIT and GROUND wilres. You can tell which of the RJ-11 wires are the receive, transmit and ground by looking closely inside (see Fig 5). You should be able to distinguish which wire goes to which contact. To be absolutely sure, you can use an electrical meter to test wires and contacts.

Adaptive Microsystems also connects several other pins together. If you use the solder-type DB-9, you will need three short pieces of wire (about 1.5") with insulation removed from each end. Bend the wires into a 'U' shape. If you use an adaptor with pin connectors attach, you may need to purchase additional (female) pin connectors in order to do the recommended bridging.

Now connect:

• Pin #7 to Pin #8
• Pin #1 to Pin #4 and Pin #6

(We have made adaptors without doing the extra pin connections, and these have worked with no problem. It's up to you.)

Now stuff the wires into the adaptor body and push the DB-9 connector onto the end of the adaptor until it clips into place.

Schematics from Adaptive Microsystems

Alternate Method

You could skip the adaptor and purchase a DB-9 connector, clip the RJ-11 end from the cable and connect the cable directly to the DB-9.