A few weeks ago, I built an ALDL to serial interface for WinALDL (the commonly used 2-transistor interface).

The first time I tried to hook it all up, I had to bring a desk out to my driveway and hook up my desktop PC there. When I was ready to get started, I found that I couldn't very well get the wires to stay in the ALDL connector. I was using small (20ga) wire, so I crimped on the smallest male blade connectors I could find, but they ended up being too wide for the ALDL. So I ground them down until they fit, but then they were too thin and fell out. I ended up soldering large lumps of solder to make them hold, and then they got too big. At that point, it was dark and I was frustrated, so I closed shop.

Now, I have a laptop, so I'm all geared up to try it again. Then, I noticed that my laptop doesn't have a serial interface .

So, I have two questions:

1. Is there any way that I can interface with my serial-less laptop, i.e. using the printer (parallel) or USB ports?

2. What is the best way to hook up the interface into the ALDL connector in the car?

Thanks

 

I had the same frustrations building my own cable. After about 2 weeks of bad connections and crappy data logging, I bought one from AKM that has the proper molded end to it.

http://www.akmcables.com/

You might be able to use a USB to serial convertor.