I have the misfortune in getting involved with an couple of Eicon S91-S/T X.25 interface cards.
The Eicon card has 2 connectors. The one I'm interested in is the Very High-Speed Interface (VHSI). I'm going to connect 2 of these cards together via this port for some back to back testing / software development.
All due credit to our Canadian Cousins, they do give a wiring diagram to wire up a back to back connector. But do they give a specification for the connector? NO! They just call it a 36 pin high density connector.
I need to
locate some male connectors. They need to mate with the pcb mounted female
receptacles.
Molex Look for the 52316 IDT Series Male connector. (Molex seem a bit shy and use the term plug)
I want a solderable connector....
AMP 2-175677-5 or Series Search for 0.8mm, .050, .085 Centerline Miniature Ribbon Connectors (CHAMP)
3M MDR .050 The MDR Mini D Ribbon 3M MDR DHA-RA36-R131N
Instructions for Assembly of 103XX-52F0-008
Series MDR Solder Plug Connector Junction
Shell Kit
.050,Mini D Ribbon (MDR) Connectors looks promising! the Features:
.050,Mini D Ribbon (MDR) Connectors
Solder plug shielded I/O connector
Accepts wide variety of discrete wire cable
types AWG 24–30
Soldering wire contact cup requires no
special tooling
Ribbon type contact: industry preferred
Reliable repetitive plugging/unplugging
Positions: 14, 20, 26, 36, 40 and 50
60-13-036-5200.????
AHA! These plugs are used for high speed printers conforming to IEEE-1284-C connectors!
Cable Plug
AMP
2-175677-5
3M
10136-6000EC
Molex
52316-3611
a face on view of the plug....
Seems to enjoy the name "MINI CENT. 36 MALE(C)"
Well now that I know all that - it's not so bad!
Radiospares carry the 3M MDR connectors
The plugs:
36 way 10136-3000VE 176-1986
The shells:
36 way 10336-52F0-008 299-4632
http://www.eicon.com/support/helpweb/con2ken/s9x_install.asp
http://www.eicon.com/support/helpweb/software.asp?h=ec&s=w2kp
Eicon have identified the questions they hear most often regarding X.25 Development Tools. Try desperately to find an answer to your problem in their collection of frequently asked questions and answers.
I find Eicon's web site is difficult to follow, and they change it just as I begin to find my way around it!
SO here's some samples I downloaded from
http://www.eicon.com/develop/tools/x25/download.htm
Also these are not the latest! Eicon seem to want to sell the hardware and
software separately. e.g. there is a security feature in x25init(), but I don't
see it in the free loadloads!
Also post routines don't appear to work! (The void * xi_ref pointer is
corrupted!)
Anyway...
X.25 Win32 Library (x25lib.zip, 35KB)
The X.25 Development Tool Win32 DLL (ex25.dll) inside this ZIP file is an update to the release of the X.25 Development Tools for Win32 Version 2.1 (included on the Eicon Development Suite Release 2.0). Please note that this update is version 2.1 build 210 (Intel/MSCV only). Please read the Notes.txt included in the ZIP file before using this update.
X.25/Win32 File Transfer Samples (x25samp.zip, 63KB)
This zip file contains two sample applications that demonstrate possible uses of the new XI_REF parameter available in the "X.25 Development Tools for Win32 Version 2.0". The two samples are multi-threaded file transfer applications, PostTrsf is written in C, and FileTxfr is written in C++.
ISDN Dialer Library for Win32 (isdndial.zip, 30KB)
The ISDN Dialer Library is a dialer tool that allows a user application to programatically access and change the ISDN Remote Number on an ISDN-compatible EiconCard port. This Library is a ‘C’ language DLL that can be linked into an application in conjunction with another Eicon Development Tool DLL.
FILETRSF (filetrsf.zip, 22KB)
FileTrsf.exe is a Multi-Threaded File Transfer application. This application use NO-WAIT MODE with POLLING ( x25done() ). The user can specify the application as a listener or as a caller.
FTMESGS (ftmesg.zip, 30KB)
A sample program for the file transfer (back-to-back configuration) which uses X.25 toolkit functions. This sample program is using POST mechanism; POST-MESSAGE.
FTPOLL (ftpoll.zip, 22KB)
A sample program for the file transfer (back-to-back configuration) which uses X.25 toolkit functions. This sample program is using POLLING mechanism.
FTPOST (ftpost.zip, 30KB)
A sample program for the file transfer (back-to-back configuration) which uses X.25 toolkit functions. This sample program is using POST mechanism; POST-ROUTINE.
INPOST (inpost.zip, 18KB)
A sample program for establishing a connection in NO-WAIT mode using POST-ROUTINES.
PVCPOLL (pvcpoll.zip, 19KB)
A sample program for establishing a connection in NO-WAIT mode using POLLING and PVC in a Multi-Threaded environment.
PVCPOST (pvcpost.zip, 18KB)
A sample program for establishing a connection in NO-WAIT mode using POST-ROUTINES and PVC.
THRCHAT (thrchat.zip, 19KB)
This sample is a chat program using POST ROUTINE and THREADS.
Make sure you are using the latest EX25.DLL. 2.07 is not too good, but 2.10 seems to behave.
Some of the interfaces seem badly thought out.
These quirks can be successfully hidden in a thin wrapper class.
I have to concede that the age of the product means that the interface card does seem reliable.
Well I've found a bug. I'll track it here.