I could waste my time trying to track down where the apprentices left one of the shop USB-Links, and then trying to find a cord that hasn't been slammed in a hundred doors, and then trying to find a 9 pin adapter cable that hasn't had the connector face mangled by some goon throwing it on the ground repeatedly. I'm paid by the hour, I certainly could do that. But for my sanity I chose to just buy one and lock it in my box. The reduction of the J1587 connection to an add-on adapter instead of a split cable is great, trucks running that is so far and few these days there's no reason to have it flopping around all the time when it's used maybe two or three times a year at my shop. It's a genuine Nexiq product, very high quality, and an essential tool for any tech nearing, at, or above Journeyman level. Bluetooth and wireless are superfluous features in a tool like this outside a lab environment, this one works just fine with the cable.
No idea how good the Diesel direct software is, I have access to OEM programs but it might be worth installing on my personal laptop and messing about with.
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