[E3-hacking] DC adaptor?

[Matt Evans]

David, en4,

I use an ex-Ericsson T610 datacable to talk to the E2.  It's 
USB-powered and contains a PL2303 USB-serial 'uart' and has no line 
drivers.

Ericssons have 3.3V interfaces whilst the E2 talks at 5V - I cracked 
mine open and rewired the 'VccIO' pin (my own name - I can't remember 
the real name, it's the I/O pads power supply which may be greater or 
less than the 3.3V logic supply to the PL2303) to 5V instead of 3.3V.  
In fact my particular cable has a switch on the side (charging on/off 
it seems) so I can switch 5V/3.3V operation (for other projects).

It's very nice, I'd highly recommend going down this route rather than 
making all sorts of separate boards and, as has been mentioned, trying 
to find a +5V supply for them.

(Actually if you CBA to crack it open and change it from 3.3 to 5V it 
should work at 3.3 too.  (though of course the inputs may not be 5V 
tolerant on your cable - consult the data sheet, a good proportion of 
the el cheapo no-brandname cables have the PL2303 in though.))

Best of luck,


Matt

PS:  I believe Nokia F-Bus also runs at 3.3V