**  M100/Phone Use Tips  **
          by Gary Van Balen [71500,611]
                  September 1990


Here's a tip or two for making connecting your M100 to the
phone system easier.

MODIFICATIONS TO THE DIRECT CONNECT CABLE (26-1410)

The direct (phone) connect cable Radio Shack provides for
the M100's consists of a special 8-pin DIN plug with two
4ft-long, 4-conductor line cords sticking out of it.  Each
of the line cords is terminated with RJ11/14 modular plugs.
One of the line cords is almond colored and is meant to be
plugged into an RJ11/14 jack on the wall (line).  The other
line cord is silver and is meant to be plugged into the
phone you unplugged from the wall so you could plug in the
almond colored one.  This setup gives you use of the phone
set while your not "online" with the computer.  If you want
to unplug the DIN plug from the M100, you can leave the rest
plugged in and complete the circuit for the phone set by
plugging the DIN plug into the mating DIN jack Radio Shack
hung on to one of the line cords.  In a word, the whole mess
is "functional".

There are three things I don't like about the direct connect
cable as it comes from Radio Shack:  1) The 4ft length is
often too short, 2) I rarely use the silver wire so it
usually just gets in the way, and 3) The silver wire makes
it difficult to coil the cable neatly so it fits in the
zippered pouch of the blue M100 bag I pack everything into.
Well, here's how I made my direct connect cable better.

I've modified my direct connect cable by cutting the silver
wire (the one meant to plug into a phone set) near the DIN
plug so it's only about 6" long.  I attached a RJ11/14
modular plug to both cut ends of the silver wire using RS
plugs (279-384) and crimping tool (279-388).  I also got a
Radio Shack Inline Coupler (279-358) so I can either couple
the silver wire back together if I ever need to plug a phone
in, or I can couple the 3.5ft silver 'extension' to the
almond line cord when I need a longer cable.  Just to make
sure it's clear... What you end up with by doing this
modification is a direct connect cable where the silver
'phone' line only sticks out 6" from the DIN plug, and you
also get a short 3.5ft long silver modular extension cord
which can be coupled to the 'line' cord for extra length.

After making this modification you'll have additional
flexibility, but won't have to carry any more than you were
before (except two RJ11/14 plugs and an Inline Coupler if
you're picky).  If you have to buy all of the Radio Shack
parts mentioned above, the total cost will be about $12 and
you'll have 8 RJ11/14 plugs and the crimping tool for other
projects.

PHONE CONNECTION KIT

I hate when I want to "go online" but I can't because I
can't plug my M102 into the phone system.  Like others, I've
minimized the frequency with which this happens by carrying
a "phone connection kit" consisting of all the things
necessary to over come the obstacles one runs into.  Other
files here in the M100SIG tell you the mechanics of using
the hardware in the kit, so I'm just going to tell you what
I carry.  This is because I only recently got my M102 (used)
and may have put together a kit which takes up less space
than other similar kits - I refuse to let my M102 get any
bigger than the blue padded bag it came in.  Here's what I
carry and a Radio Shack part number unless otherwise noted:

Direct Connect Cable (26-1410) - modified as explained above

3.5ft-long Modular Extension - from modified Direct Connect
Cable

Inline Coupler (279-358)

Duplex Jack (279-357) - can be used as an Inline Coupler too

12" Modular-to-Spade cord (279-391) - this I modified by
cutting off the Spade connectors and soldering on small
Alligator Clips (270-378)

Telephone - I carry a small phone with me.  It's only 7.5"
long, 1.3" wide, and 0.9" high.  It has redial, tone and
pulse dialing, and weighs 4oz.  It only cost $10 from the
Warehouse Club.  It's called a "micro PHONE" made by
Brights.  It's also fluorescent pink and black - yuck!  It's
fun to pull this out and pretend you're talking on it when
on a plane next to someone with a "real laptop".

Small flathead and Phillips screwdrivers - any will do

Acoustic Coupler (26-3818) - only added to kit when I know
I'll be restricted to using a public pay phone

Everything mentioned above, except the acoustic coupler fits
into the zippered pouch (along with the AC adapter) inside
my blue padded M100 bag.  I have not been prevented from
going online since I've been carrying the above kit.

Happy computing!