> From: Paul Koning
> I believe the original concept was just a probe that would poke through
> the cable to contact the center connector. The drill came because the
> cable was too tough to penetrate without it.
No, the original 3 Mbit Ethernet also used a 'drill' (actually, a cylindrical
cutter which screwed into the thread of the tap housing; threading which was
then used to screw in the transceiver).
Anyway, there has to be a hole cut _through_ the cylindrical ground layer
(foil, or woven wire) around the center conductor. If you just stuck a probe
into the cable to the center conductor, it would short it out.
Noel
