2nd way to make a serial connector:
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Here's the second idea that I had to make a plug for the serial port.
I think it's a little bit easier to make (and easier to understand, too!)
and the result is much more solid.

I took pictures while I made it, so I think you will see how I made it.
So I don't have to write much describing text and you don't have to read
much of my bad English. ;-)

Here's what you need INSTEAD of the two 5-pin-'Platinensteckverbinder'
from Segor Electronic:

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You need:

(1) A (I think more common) connector with two rows of holes on one side 
    and 2 rows of pins on the other side. Have a look at the pictures:

    needed1.jpg
    needed2.jpg

    IMPORTANT: The connector must have at least 2*5 pins (mine had 2*20).
    The pins must have a distance from each other of 2.0mm.

(2) A circuit board (both sides must be coated with copper!!!) that has such a 
    thickness that it fits exactly between the two rows of the connector pins
    (mine fitted _that_ exactly between the pins... I wish you that much luck 
    that I had!). 
    
    The circuit board must be at least 1cm * 2cm. If it's bigger, you have to 
    saw it into the size of 1cm * 2 cm.

    The circuit board you can also see in the pictures above.

_______________________________________________________________________________

When you watch the pictures now: please notice that _I_ used this plug for making 
a LED light, so I only needed the pins 3 and 5 of the plug.
If you want to use it for serial communication, you have to make another layout
of the little circuit board!
For informations regarding which pins you have to use please have a look at 
my article about this topic on 

http://www.palmtop.net/more.html

OK, here I go:

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STEP 1:
 
  Put the connector on one side of the circuit board and mark where to saw
  the board and where the pins will have place later.

  Pictures:

    STEP1.JPG
    STEP1A.JPG

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STEP 2:

  Saw the board into its size of 1cm * 2cm (the 1cm must be _exact_!).
  saw the connector in its size of 2*5 pins.

  Picture:

    STEP2.JPG


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STEP 3:

  Design the board: make sure which pins you have to use, insulate _all!!!_ pins
  from each other and carry through these ones which you need.
  I used a rotar grinder for that (rotart grinder = german Fräser). Maybe a
  simple knife works, too.

  The two holes I made were for the solid silver wire that holds the LEDs.
  Maybe they are also usable for holding a cable.
  picture STEP3.JPG shows the bottom of my board (pins 6-10),
  picture STEP3A.JPG shows the top (pins 1-5).

  Pictures:

    STEP3.JPG
    STEP3A.JPG

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STEP 4:
  
  Solder the 2*5 connector th the board (don't produce short-circuits between the pins!)
  again: STEP4.JPG: bottom, STEP4A.JPG: top

  Pictures:

    STEP4.JPG
    STEP4A.JPG


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STEP 5 and 6:

  Solder all the cables you need to the board. (if you also want to make a LED light,
  please see my other article about making such a light for informations regarding
  pins and the atttached wires and so on:

  http://www.palmtop.net/ledlight.html

  Pictures:

    STEP5.JPG
    STEP6.JPG

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STEP 7:

  Cover the plug with epoxy. 

  Picture:

    STEP7.JPG


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STEP 8:

  From here you can procede with Step 8 of http://www.palmtop.net/ledlight.html 
  if you also want to make a LED light.
  
  If you make this plug for another purpose, please be creative! 
  



Good luck

Daniel Hertrich