Damn Accessory 2 Cables

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themaddog

Rockin' & Rollin'
Hey everyone,
I found a great score on a Tascam Midiizer, but of course it didn't come with any of those Accessory 2 Cables.

I plan on interfacing the Midiizer with my computer through Cubase to run MIDI stuff, with the possibility of syncing my TSR-8 and MSR-16 together. I don't plan on running the computer, TSR, and MSR simultaneously, if that makes any difference. So, I think I need at least one master and one slave Accesory 2 cable.

I've just ordered the manual to the Midiizer as well as the schematic for the cables. Is there anyone here that would be willing to build these cables for a nominal price, or know of where I can get otherwise acquire these things? I've read all that I could gather from previous posts on the forum, but don't want to exactly put anybody into a spot by asking persons who have built these cables in the past outright if they'd be willing to help me out. But if there's anyone out there who is willing, I'm sure we could come to some sort of agreement or trade or something.

Thanks for any and all input and help,
-MD
 
If you don't want to source the parts yourself (the weird cable shield is the hard part..the Japanese company that made them for Tascam went under ten years ago)...and you want to spend less than a hundred bucks for a pair of acc2 cables, here's what you do (and this is no joke)...

1. Get the acc2 schematics (the way you mentioned or have Tascam Montebello fax them to you..which they do all the time).

2. Call any one or two or three Radio Shack stores in your fair city and ask to talk to the "guy" in the store that knows electrical wiring....there is always one guy like this in almost every Radio Shack in every city. Call around till you find "that" guy.

3. Take the schematic into the store and get the quote from "the" guy who will then find the parts ...or will concoct something similar with available parts and then build it for you. Most of those guys consider it a cool challenge to build stuff like this from parts that aren't made any more.

I know at least six Radio-Shack-guys like this in the LA area alone. You can probably save quite a bit compared to buying the ready made cables from the couple of places out here that routinely build and sell the acc2 cables.
 
Thanks for the helpful advice. The schematics are being sent to me. I think the Radioshack idea might be my best bet right now.

Does anyone know any of the companies that construct or sell these cables?

Thanks again,
-MD
 
In case anyone is interested, Teac Japan has one Accessory 2 cable left in stock (part# PW-5MD). The price? Only 10,000 yen, which is about $87!

Thanks for everyone's help. I've got a buddy who's soldering up a couple of cables tonight, I hope they work out.

-MD
 
any luck on this???
i need to get a couple of 'em made........
 
That might not be a bad price. I vaguely remember acc2 prices were way higher when Tascam U.S had them for sale.

There's a place over in West Hollywood and a place in O.C that do a lot of oddball Tascam stuff, including acc2 cables (last time I checked). I never did buy from them, but I talked to both places six or seven years ago. As soon as I can dredge up the info-phone numbers etc, I'll post it somewhere here. I get the impression they're still around because I see their names listed every so often.

There was also a third place called Suntronics that did all things Tascam, but the owner....great guy named Ron Sundell, died a few years back and Suntronics disappeared.

I do remember at least one of the places I mentioned charging a couple hundred dollars for a pair of acc2 cables and they only sold them in pairs. These were built by the stores...not oem Tascam parts.
 
I am 99% certain that the connector on the Acc2 ports is the same type as the analogue joystick on the PC. If you can get a bunch of Joystick-to-MIDI cables, you could probably harvest the connectors to make a DIY cable.
 
I don't know anything about the Tascam or acc2, but if what jpmossir says is correct, then the connector you're looking for is a "D-Sub 15-pin non-high-density" connector (the high-density 15-pin connectors are the ones that are used on analog PC monitor cables - they've got three rows of pins - the non-high-density ones have just two rows).

These connectors used to be sold at Radio Shack, but I don't currently see them on radioshack.com.

Here's a link to Mouser's catalog: D-sub connectors. Not sure if you need male or female, but the ones in the second section on the left-hand column (under "Solder Cup") would probably work. At any rate, they've got pictures of the connectors on that page, so that might help you determine whether or not these are what you're looking for.
 
The connectors are standard. The cable wiring itself is the tricky part.

Here's the challenge....

it's the wiring on one end...the reverse wiring on the other end..and the one wire that has to be shielded away from all the others in the weird acc2 design.

As the acc2 schematic shows (freely available from Tascam Montebello), nothing is straight through on the soldering. Not rocket science, but it does take a little time as a diy project.
 
I've never soldered anything before in my life, not sure if now is the time to learn and experiment, but it is something I should learn.

I had a friend who was helping me, I got the parts and everything, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get them for a few weeks or longer now.

-MD
 
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