SUMMARY: TP<->BNC Ethernet on LX

From: David Bath (dtb@otto.bf.rmit.OZ.AU)
Date: Wed Sep 01 1993 - 11:39:44 CDT


Original Question:
------------------
Concerned how to hook an LX to a BNC/Coax ethernet thru the TP
(twisted pair) port.

Basic Summary:
--------------
There was another alternative pointed out to me which involved using the
Audio/AUI port and hooking in a transceiver there. Other alternatives
included buying another hub to replace the one that blew up. But yes,
there are indeed TP<->BNC transceivers, with MiLan, Allied Telesis
and Black box being mentioned. MiLan seemed to be the most popular.

Thanks to you all - got a much fuller list of alternatives than Sun
gave me - even regarding products they distribute.

Anyway - heres what Sun Australia now suggest (they have
not yet set up SunExpress here) :
        Sun Audio/AUI cable X987A A$150
        Allied Telesis transceiver A$250
We'll look further into this as well as check out the straight
transceivers from TP<->BNC from AT and MiLan.

Individual Replies:
-------------------
===============================================================================
From: pjw@ccci.com (Pete Welcher)
Milan and several of the other Mini-MAU vendors have a TP to coax
box. They go from about $250-300, maybe cheaper as it looks like
price competition is starting to take place.
===============================================================================
From: "Robert D. Worsham" <worsham@aer.com>
  Two choices (both available from Sun Express):
  1) Sun X987A AUDIO/AUI converter cable - $60
     MIL-05T MiLan 10Base-2/AUI transciever - $45
                                     total $115
  2) MIL-120A MiLan 10base-T to 10Base-2 $225
              converter
  We went with option 1 for our LX's and option 2
  for our SS1000 which doesn't have an audio port.
===============================================================================
From: Larry Chin <larry@cchtor.cch.com>
Call Allied Telesis, I believe that they have just such an animal.
Here are a bunch of numbers, pick one, any one :-).
Singapore office: 65-2943332
Japan West: 03-5488-5581
Japan Headquarters: 03-3443-5640
United Kingdom: (+44) 235 55 3370
France: (+33) 1 69 28 16 17
Germany: (+49) 30 432 90 42
BTW, don't the LXs have an AUI port, if it does you could just put a
micro transceiver on that has the BNC type connector and you would be okay.
===============================================================================
>From wojsyl@helium.appli.mimuw.edu.pl Wed Sep 1 00:16:52 1993
From: wojsyl@appli.mimuw.edu.pl (Wojtek Sylwestrzak)

We've had more or less the same problem as stupid Sun supplies only TP
with its Classics, LXes and 10 models.
Some of the solutions we applied:
1. find a TP concentrator (the best if you have a spare port in TP concentrator
   of course}
2. buy a second sbus ethernet controller with AUI port + transceiver
   or a controller with onboard transceiver and BNC connector.
   We've gone for it because we've found excellent boards from Antares
   priced something like $700 with second SCSI-2 controller,
   fast parallel port controller (4Mb + standard centronics connector)
   ehternet AUI port) that comes with a transceiver of your choice.
   we find the excellent value.
3. buy a cable from Sun + external AUI/BNC transceiver from anybody.
   here it depends if you plan to use external speaker (then buy
   a cable called AUI/Audio) or not (then AUI only).
   These cables are inadequately expensive.
4. I think Cabletron sell something called TP/BNC media adaptor.

We used solutions 1,2 and 3 and found 2 to be the best, 3 to be the poorest
one.
===============================================================================
From: adam%bwnmr4@harvard.harvard.edu (Adam Shostack)
Sun sells an Audio-AUI adapter cable. You could probably hook a coax
tranciever to the net, and link an AUI cable to the transciever, and
the other end of the AUI to the audio-aui adapter. We do this for
some of our sparc 10s.
The Audio-AUI cable is
X987A Audio/AUI Adapter $75.00
===============================================================================
From: szgyula@skysrv.Pha.Jhu.EDU (Gyula Szokoly)
  The LX has an THICK ethernet outlet, too. You should get a so called
breakout cable from Sun (the thick ethernet is in the funny audio outlet)
for about 50$ and a thick to thin transciever (about 50-100 $). I have not
played with the TP so I'm not sure if there is any jumper. I just pluged
in the breakout cable and the transc. and that's it.
===============================================================================
>From jmaple@mitre.org (Jim Maple)
Sorry I don't have a definitive answer, but, this might help. I have a SS10
with a second ethernet interface from a FSBE/S SBus Card. I want to use the
second interface which only has a TP connection. I talked to Sun Express
and they told me I needed a Micro-Hub 9 Port Repeator at US$359 which has 8
TP (10BaseT) and one switch selectable to thin or thick ethernet. I haven't
bought one yet. If you find something else that's better, and/or cheaper,
I'd like to hear about it.
===============================================================================
From: Thomas Tengdin <teto@mbari.org>
MiLan makes a line of converters from one to the other. I think the
TP to Thinnet is about $350.
A good place to buy is AnDataCo 800/334-9191
===============================================================================
From: dave@cybersys.com (Dave Cress)
Good news. You can get a Audio/AUI adapter cable for the LX which would
allow you to put a regular transceiver on the system. List price is $75 US
and part# X987A. We use Allied Telesis AT-MX10 or AT-MX10S, the S is a
slim-line model for thoses hard to reach connectors on the SPARCstation.
They are about $50 US.
===============================================================================
From: cws@isgtec.com (Chris Wong Shue)
Allied Telesis makes a couple twisted pair to BNC repeaters. Try the AT-MR112T
and the AT-MR122T. They are a little bit expensive though (in the $300 Cdn
range) and will count against your repeater count. They are more suited to
bringing a thin-net segment onto a twisted-pair network.
===============================================================================
From: johnb@blas.cis.mcmaster.ca (John Benjamins)
as far as i know, what you want doesn't exist. you need to order the
AUI/Ethernet Adapter Cable (Sun p/n X987A) which is about $100 (CDN).
then you you need one of the thick to thin transceivers to plug into
the AUI cable.
===============================================================================
>From bet@justlaw.jvnc.net (Brian Terry)
Black Box Catalog (412-746-5500) has a coax/TP converter, part number
HG-LE610A, that they sell for US$305. Black Box is not usually the cheapest,
but their products work. They are located in Pittsburgh, PA and their order
hours are 8-8 EST.
===============================================================================
From: wallen@cogsci.UCSD.EDU (Mark R. Wallen)
Unfortunately, its not as simple as just changing wiring types from UTP
to BNC. You really need to have some sort of repeater. Allied Telesis sells
a Micro Repeater that should do the trick for $395 (US $) list.
Their phone number is 1-415-964-2771
===============================================================================
From: markh@analogy.com (Mark Holm)
I had the same problem with our new Sparc Center 1000. It only has TP and
for the next 6 months, I am only BNC.
Milan makes some converters that Sun Express is reselling for them. You can
either go directly to BNC from Twisted pair (Sun Part # SUNX-MIL-120A/C3
$239.00) or you can go to a AUI port (Sun Part # SUNX-MIL-130A/C3 $195.00).
I took the more generic route since I have spare transceivers and I may
later want to adapt to Fiber.
Sun Express may be contacted at 1-800-873-7869 or find your favorite Milan
distributor.
===========================================================================
From: mrh@io.nosc.mil (Mike Halderman)
This is not what you are asking for, but we use a twisted pair hub. It has
8 10BaseT ports for your TP only machines. It can connect to your network
via TP, coax or AUI connectors (it has all three ports). The model we have
is:
        MiLAN model MIL-4000H, 8 port 10BaseT
        (twisted pair) Ethernet hub.
It is small, about 6"x9"x1". Should be about $300 (US).
===============================================================================
From: Barry Moyer <barrym@sa-cgy.valmet.com>
SUN Express sells an adapter cable (US$60) that allows you to get an AUI port
for the LX. You will then need to get an AUI to Thin/Thick net interface.
There are some devices that accept twisted pair and then provide a thin net
interface. Let me know if you need to know who the manufacturer is.

The board for A$760 will probably be some sort of SBUS card that would give you
a AUI port and something else (eg. SCSI port). You may want to consider buying
the board if you NEED the other interface (eg. a second SCSI bus). We have
systems that we have installed up to 4 ethernet connections.
===============================================================================
From: Matt_Mauss_-T@hqdev.3mail.3com.com
there is a cable available from sun (maybe others) to allow you to use a
standard AUI tranceiver on your LX. it plugs into the audio/AUI port.
i don't know the part number off the top of my head but the total cost,
cable and tranceiver should be ~A$150.
===========================================================================
From: dburwell@telecom.telecom.com (David Burwell)
 If I understand you correctly; you have a small segment of 10baseT
 (TP port on LX) that needs to be connected to a larger segment of ThinNet
 coax (Rest of the Network)? If that is the case, then the Milan Any-Twist
 (MIL-130a) box will help. It is a box with 3 different ethernet ports that
 transceive between all 3 ports. There is an 1-AUI, 1-10BaseT and 1-ThinNet
 Coax port. Cost about $250 US.
  MiLAN Technology
  894 Ross Dr.
  Sunnyvale, CA. 94089 USA
  408-752-2770
  inqinfo@milan.com
===========================================================================
>From kuhn@math.harvard.edu Wed Sep 1 01:23:53 1993
From: kuhn@math.harvard.edu (Robert M. Kuhn)
You seem to be grossly misinformed. The Classic & LX both have a
connection on the back which, in the case of the classic, takes an
AUI adapter cable and, in the case of the LX takes a speaker/AUI
adapter. In each case you then need a standard thin wire transceiver.
Ask your Sun sales rep for the adapter cable, and get the transceiver
from your favourite source.
===========================================================================

-- 
David T. Bath             | Email:dtb@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au (131.170.40.10)
Senior Tech Consultant    | Phone: +61 3 347-7511 TZ=AEST-10AEDST-11
Global Technology Group   | 179 Grattan St, Carlton, Vic, 3153, AUSTRALIA
"The robber of your free will does not exist" - Epictetus



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