Re: Twinax switchbox?

["James H H Lampert" <jamesl@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>Can anyone recommend a vendor to get a 3 position twinax switch box?

> www.blackbox.com has a manual 4-to-1 switch, about $215.

I honestly can't recall where we got our last ones, but I remember they
cost a lot less than $215! For that kind of money, you could probably just
buy a bunch of used terminals!

Just do a GOOGLE search on "TWINAX SWITCH" and you'll find some. Some
outfit called "Cables Online" has 'em for $10 (2-way) or $18 (4-way).
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/cablesonline/bnstwinswitb.html (Note: Netscape
4 doesn't seem to like this site; Mozilla does fine, and so should
Imploder or a more current Netscape). They might very well have been the
vendor that sold us our last 2.

Unless you've got some kind of high-tech electronic switchbox, you
definitely DO need to sign off before switching, or you'll get kicked off
with a joblog in your spooled files. If you're using a 348x and switching
between systems with enhanced and non-enhanced controllers, you may also
need to turn the terminal itself off before switching, or its own firmware
will go nuts.

Quality of switchboxes varies. On our oldest, from the time we first got
it, we usually had to jiggle the handle before the contacts would firmly
seat; the newer ones rarely require this. Also, with some types of
terminals (i.e., genuine IBM with beige Y-type autoterminators), you can
usually use twinax T-fittings to simulate a "feed-through" switchbox and
have 2 independently switched terminals sharing the same set of lines;
with the black T-type autoterminators that came with some old Andrew
twinax cards we still have lying around, that doesn't seem to work.

Once you get them, I recommend that you print up large, bold labels,
indicating which position is which host, and also reminding users to sign
off all sessions before switching, and then use LOTS of double-sided foam
mounting tape to attach the box to the top of the terminal.

Wouldn't it be nice if, say, the 2 "sides" of a 3477 or 3487, or the 4
"sides" of a 3488 or 3489, could be individually assigned to separate
twinax lines?