I am interested in interfacing an old Apple computer with Arduino using LocalTalk. I am kind of a noob and would like some guidance, if possible, on how to do this. I looked at Wikipedia and it looks as though LocalTalk uses a RS-422 protocol, although my understanding is unclear on this; here is the Wikipedia page:
For someone who understands datasheets and technical specifications, can I do this interfacing using an RS-422 chip, or do I need something else? I found a SN75LBC775 chip that is supposed to do the localtalk protocol but couldn't understand all of the technical details.
From the wiki: localtalk is running at a rate of 230.4 kbit/s.
Officially the Arduino supports up to 115200, so officially it won't work. In practice I have used 230400 baud and even higher with succes Note the Arduino IDE does not support it, you need another terminal program. Furthermore you might need a max232 to convert voltages and a 422/482 chip to make teh hardware complete...
Then you still need to implement the AppleTalk protcoll, not trivial, so maybe the SN75LBC775 chip is a good better idea.
From looking at this, is this what I'm looking for? There's a lot of stuff there I don't understand; I am a software guy not so much a hardware guy. I want a way of getting data from the localtalk line and be able to push it to the arduino and analyze the data. If I can get this done, the rest (reading packets, etc.) is just software and shouldn't be a problem for me.