Palm Universal Connector
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| Type | Communication, power supply, USB |
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| Designer | Palm, Inc. |
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| Superseded | Palm Serial |
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| Superseded by | Palm Multi-Connector |
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| Pin 1 | Signal - ground | GND |
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| Pin 2 | Data + USB | USB_D+ |
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| Pin 3 | Data - USB | USB_D- |
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| Pin 4 | USB VBUS | VCC |
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| Pin 5 | HotSync IRQ - +3.3 V push button | HOTSYNC |
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| Pin 6 | not connected | N/C |
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| Pin 7 | Signal - ground | GND |
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| Pin 8 | Peripheral ID - USB Cradle : short
- Serial Cradle : 7.5 kΩ
- Mfg. Test Cradle : 20 kΩ
- USB Peripheral : 47 kΩ
- Serial Peripheral : 100 kΩ
- Modem : 220 kΩ
| ID |
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| Pin 9 | power out +3.2 V, 100 mA max. | Vout |
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| Pin 10 | RxD RS-232 in, GPS T | RxD |
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| Pin 11 | TxD RS-232 out, GPS R | TxD |
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| Pin 12 | Peripheral DETECT | DETECT |
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| Pin 13 | CTS RS-232 in | CTS |
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| Pin 14 | RTS RS-232 out | RTS |
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| Pin 15 | DTR RS-232 out | DTR |
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| Pin 16 | charge +5 V, 500–700 mA | CHARGE |
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The Universal Connector was a standard port fitted to the bottom of many Palm PDA's from 2001 to 2004 and on units from other manufacturers that licensed Palm technology, including Garmin.
Out of the box, it is used to connect to the sync and charge cradle, allowing the Palm to connect to a desktop PC and receive battery power. A range of accessories were also available for the Universal Connector, including folding keyboards, external battery packs, wired and wireless modems, and many more.
The Universal Connector cradles were the first synchronization device that used USB to communicate with the host computer, in addition to the older serial port standard.
Some Palm devices manufactured between 2001 and 2004 did not use the Universal Connector. For instance, the Tungsten E had a mini-USB connector.
The Universal Connector was superseded by the Palm Multi-Connector for the final devices released by Palm, this standard added stereo audio output and mono microphone input.
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