< A href="http://fwdepot.com/">FireWire Depot announced the release of an isolator cable for FireWire 800 connections. The 1394b FireWire Isolator cable allows you to hot-swap devices as it does not pass buss power. In addition, FireWire Depot noted that it can be used to find out bad cables in a FireWire chain.
The cable is intended to prevent charges from bad cables travelling up a FireWire chain by simply not passing any bus power through to devices. The FireWire spec provides bus power so that (some) devices do not need an external power supply, but a bad cable can ruin a device.
The cable is a 9-pin male to 9-pin female cable, 9" long. The company said it is intended to be used in conjunction with another FireWire cable.
 The 1394b FireWire Isolator cable |
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You can find more information on the product at FireWire Depotis Web site. The cable is priced at US$32.