Build you own Data Link Cable for Nikon

1.1 What is the MC-27 good for?

The MC-27 is used to interface you Nikon N/F90 and N90S/F90X with a Sharp Organizer (Series IQ/IZ-8xxx or IQ/IZ-9xxx). You will a program Card Model AC-1E (N90/F90) or AC-2E (N90s/F90X). This programs cards have a software which enables you to read film data (very basic exif), change settings on your camera and (if you have it) function back MF-26.

Taking account of the limited ressources which are available on a device of the early 90's, the software is straight forward. There no space for confusion.

1.2 What is a MC-27 technically?

The core of this device is a RS232 TTL level converter, which does all the magic. It is "the man in the middle" between the Organizer and camera.

1.3 Availabity of the MC-27 and program cards

Oh man.... i was looking for an AC-2E for my F90X for month. It was really hard to find for reasonable price. Most offers on Ebay were around 50$. But i was lucky to find one on bhphoto for around 12$ (Shipping to germany was bit higher:) ). And....it was boxed and sealed. Noone had ever used it! Great find!! About the AC-1E: It is even harder to find. Q:Can i use the AC-2E for a N90/F90? A:No you can't! Q:Why not? A:I can only assume it is regarding some differences about the software and capabilties of the cameras (F90X/N90S have more options an memory for shooting data)

1.4 I got a Organizer, a program card but no cable. What to do?

Simply build you own one. You some parts and a soldering iron.

required parts:

• pin header (1,27 pitch)

• 5 1uF capacitor and 1 1kOhm resistor

• jumper wire (really cheap ones with thin round header)

• MAX323 IC

• perfboard

optional parts/tools:

• hot glue

• pin header (rounded)

<Pic KiCad>

final

PCB-Version

i found it much better to solder and PCBs are made really cheap in China. So i created one in KiCad and sent it to ... . Few days later i got them and soldered the components. And yes, i made two mistakes in the design, but those were easy to fix.