[Kevin Sevcik]

To aid in the whole "timely manner" bit, don't bury the tether port inside the robot where it's going to be difficult to reach. Either place the RC in an accessible location, or solder up a small extension cable for the tether port. Semi-permanently attach one end to your RC, and put the other end somewhere near the perimeter of your robot. I'm not entirely certain which pins are important and which aren't, so your best best is to wire up all 9 pins 1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc. And use a decent wire gauge since it IS carrying power for the OI. Alternatively, you could simply use an extra black programming cable or get the shortest db9/serial, male-female, straight thru cable you can find at your local Electro-Fry's CompuShack Depot.