Q: Mac Plus keyboard cable

The cable I made is about 1 metre. It is a plain flat cable, not coiled. A brief test with a Macintosh Plus did not reveal any difficulties. All keys worked as they should. Sorry, I do not know anything about a maximum cable length or distorted signals.

It is not always easy to locate a Macintosh Plus keyboard cable (you may want to search the Internet for one). That is why a home-built alternative could be of interest.

Yes, you would need 4P4C plugs (see the Wikipedia article above). I bought a set of 10 pcs for approx. USD 2 here in Sweden. Since the flat cable I used for the test did not have any plugs from the beginning, I did not have to remove anything. If you start the modification from a ready-made coiled handset cable instead, you can just remove one of the plugs by cutting the cable. Use the crimping tool to strip the outer cable layer (a number of millimetres, determined by the tool). Insert the four wires into the plug (note the correct position). Place the plug in the tool (if applicable, use a supplied adapter for 4P4C) and carry out the crimping operation. Do not forget to carefully verify the wire colours (see the earlier messages) before an attempt is made to connect the finished cable to the Macintosh computer and its keyboard.

Once again, carry out the work at your own risk. If in doubt, it may be better to look for an original keyboard cable.

Jan