Hi Anders,

yes I have the latest fw. If you remember you helped me (in May 2018) get my adapters going and we found the "ver" vs "version" problem which rendered you releasing the current version.?

Interrupt version, sounds interesting. I'm happy to do some beta testing.

Br
Marcus

开云体育

From: Marcus Gustafsson
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2019 12:08:50 PDT

I also have two of and they work fine as long the data rate is low. I.e. I fail to get them working with my HP8753D and KE5FX VNA program. I suspect buffering could be improved in the PIC SW. But with other instruments like my frequency counter there is no issues.

Br
Marcus, SA5PMG

---

There is a known minor issue with them and the KE5FX suite, something to do with the ident returned to the PC, it says Prelogix, not Prologix, or something.

Plus, there is a difference too, as to how the virtual serial port, "virtual" handshake lines behave.?? (That also cause an issue with EZGPIB.)? There was a known tweak to EZGPIB's .exe file, to fix that, but I think someone else is maintaining it now, so the location of the byte to change has moved.

The source code for the adapters is available, if you want to play.

Else, 'scope the bus lines, you may find you need some pull-up's.

73

Dave G0WBX (who also has a couple of those adapters that I built on boards purchased from the creator.)

-- 
Created on and sent from a Unix like PC running and using free and open source software:

开云体育

Dear Mike,

Yes. It was never intended for very high data rates as it polls the bus. Do you have the latest FW? There has been a number of improvements over the years. I have also been working on an updated FW that uses interrupts instead. It uses the same PCB, but a different processor

AR488 has problems with EZGPIB and other software that wants full RS-232 handshaking rather than just XON/XOFF. There are workarounds documented in the manual. That's not a problem if you write your own software to drive it. But should be considered if you're not.

I am working with the author to add a number of features:

Real time clock
Temperature and humidity sensor
Relay control and in particular 44421A boards
External trigger output
Secondary addressing

He recently ported it to the ATMEGA 2560 and is now merging the two copies of the source. When he finishes that I'll start adding the features listed above which I am developing. I've got an Uno all set to read my pair of 34401As except for soldering the bus wires, but have been playing with various other toys, mostly an SD-24 head for my Tek 11801. I keep telling myself, "tomorrow I'll finish the AR488" but then I get to fooling with other stuff and at the end of the day it's still not done.

I will also be writing a Makefile with a test suite and verifying all the GPIB timing with my 16500. I'd viewed the ATMEGA with disdain for a long time, but it is 5 V TTL compatible and provides 40 mA of driver per pin. That's a bit short of the GPIB spec of 48 mA, but not by much. There's a lot to be said for a $3-9 board that will drive 10-12 devices using ribbon cable and IDC connectors. With several, a USB hub and a Pi or Beagle it becomes a pretty powerful T&M system.

I have two goals I'm trying to accomplish:

automate an annual full calibration of my electronics bench
monitor a bunch of voltage references for the purpose of studying aging behavior

Given my chronic ADD, I'm sure I'll find lots of other goals.

Have Fun!
Reg

If you can get the boards to a visible configuration, the thermal
imager might be your best bet. I find about-to-blow-up Ta capacitors
with one all the time. Very handy!

-Dave

--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA

Thanks Dave... that makes good sense and I was already thinking about the
tantalums.

I suspect there are many, many potential suspects, but hopefully with an ESR
meter and possibly a thermal imager I can find something. Or, I could just
fire the capacitor shotgun at it and hope for the best.

FWIW, it looks like one of the electrolytics on one of the P/S boards was
not original.

I guess I need to order the CLIP.

73,

Mike
WM4B

On 8/27/19 8:14 PM, Mike Besemer wrote:

I recently acquired an HP8643A.? It **SEEMS** to work ok,
althoughadmittedlyI have not used it very much yet.?

On initial power on, it displays? --- Calibrating --- for a very long
time… perhaps 3 minutes or so.? When the --- Calibrating --- finally
goes away, it displays Hardware Failure 14 and Calibration Error 2,
along with theResult Code 14.020122*WITHOUT* a plus or minus sign in
front of it.?According to the service data, a result code without a sign
in front of it indicates a calibration errorand require additional
action to return the instrument to working condition.?I haven’t found
anything on either the Hardware Failure 14 or the Calibration Error 2 in
the manual yet.?

I have checked the P/S voltages and all are in tolerance and the max
ripple I see is about 20 mV, although I have not seen a spec in the book
for ripple.?There is **SOMETIMES**a P/S fail LED lit on the I/O board,
but it always goes away.? Obvious this is suspicious, but I don’t know
if it means anything or not.

I pulled the I/O board and looked down at the P/S boards and I don’t see
any leaky or swollen caps.?

The Serial Number is 3512A01553 and the device has Options H02 and K01
installed.?

Any advice would be appreciated.?I spent some time getting my HP8924C’s
up and running recently, so I’m not afraid to get in up to my elbows,
but sure would appreciate some direction.

For that PS Fail LED, my money is on a tantalum capacitor trying to
short. I'd look around for that and then see if the error code goes
away. This family of signal generators performs extensive self-tests;
it's easily possible that one of the power rails isn't quite right at
startup (i.e., when those tests are run) and then straightens up later on.

-Dave

--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA

开云体育

I recently acquired an HP8643A.? It *SEEMS* to work ok, although admittedly I have not used it very much yet.?

On initial power on, it displays? --- Calibrating --- for a very long time… perhaps 3 minutes or so.? When the --- Calibrating --- finally goes away, it displays Hardware Failure 14 and Calibration Error 2, along with the Result Code 14.020122 *WITHOUT* a plus or minus sign in front of it.? According to the service data, a result code without a sign in front of it indicates a calibration error and require additional action to return the instrument to working condition.? I haven’t found anything on either the Hardware Failure 14 or the Calibration Error 2 in the manual yet.?

I have checked the P/S voltages and all are in tolerance and the max ripple I see is about 20 mV, although I have not seen a spec in the book for ripple.? There is *SOMETIMES* a P/S fail LED lit on the I/O board, but it always goes away.? Obvious this is suspicious, but I don’t know if it means anything or not.

I pulled the I/O board and looked down at the P/S boards and I don’t see any leaky or swollen caps.?

The Serial Number is 3512A01553 and the device has Options H02 and K01 installed.?

Any advice would be appreciated.? I spent some time getting my HP8924C’s up and running recently, so I’m not afraid to get in up to my elbows, but sure would appreciate some direction.

Mike – WM4B

I also have two of and they work fine as long the data rate is low. I.e. I fail to get them working with my HP8753D and KE5FX VNA program. I suspect buffering could be improved in the PIC SW. But with other instruments like my frequency counter there is no issues.

Br
Marcus, SA5PMG

My trusty HP 89411A unit (rebadged 89410A) refused to start up today.?

It is stuck on the bootup screen with all keyboard indicator lights off and no response to keypresses. HP-IB connection is dead too.

Restarting with "Return" pressed does not seem to make any difference.

Any idea what the next test step would have been for a happy unit?

Cheers
Leo

On 8/26/19 9:09 PM, David Feldman via Groups.Io wrote:

This is *really* primitive, but I did make a clone of the 85044A zipper on tinkercad, and the export files are attached (tinkercad an Autodesk online service). I had a pair printed today at the university library (I'm a student there) at a cost for $3 for the pair, got them home, and pushed them into the 85044A case - they fit pretty well (just a little more insertion pressure needed than I expected, but still not too hard to adjust). The cabinet holds together without rattling and I suspect will be durable as long as I don't try to remove them again (at which point I suspect they'd break at the weak points described below.)

The design has a weak point along the length (every other tooth section in the zipper is a weak point, as using arrow keys to step-and-repeat the base pattern isn't accurate as tinkercad has no x,y,z coordinate editing capability so I had to do this visually). This weak point could be fixed by redoing the step-and-repeat perhaps to have each tooth section slightly overlap, but I'll leave that to a more experienced CAD designer.

The plastic the university library used wasn't as flexible as the original HP part (they had only one choice), but they do suffice to hold the cabinet halves firmly together, which was needed as the 85044A arrived without these parts at all.

The two files I attached are .stl and .zip (compressed .obj file); these appear to be the only export options on tinkercad, and I'm not sure if either of these files would allow one to import back into tinkercad and alter the design. I'm an absolute beginner at 3D printing and CAD (this is my first project); tinkercad (save for the absence of x,y,z coordinates for objects and object groups) is fully on-line (browser-based).

There are a lot of gaps in there. No coordinate entry capability?
Surely Autodesk knows better than that!

If you're of a programming mindset, you might look into OpenSCAD.
(it's free) Stuff like this would take just a couple of lines of code.
Describe the horizontal slabs, describe the vertical stubs, then write
a loop that instantiates the vertical stubs, done.

-Dave

--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA

HP did invent HPIB, as an answer to the deficiencies of the BCD interface
that they also invented... that had become common among the manufacturers.

They put the design into the public domain, which fostered the development
of GPIB, by manufacturers that competed with HP.

Much later, the IEEE standards committed standardized GPIB to
create the IEEE-488 series of standards.

-Chuck Harris

Tom Holmes wrote:

At 2019-08-26 02:59 PM, you wrote:

The KISS you are on your own.

Touche'!

I'm sure no offense intended, and none taken here. I respond directly to any requests for help and the email address I provide in the manual comes directly to me (the designer / first user / etc.). If you have questions before purchasing, email me directly off-list at SteveHx@....

Steve Hendrix

开云体育

Re:- When did the GPIB first appear? Was it made for the minicomputers that preceded the PC.

See..

???

For starters.

Dave G0WBX

-- 
Created on and sent from a Unix like PC running and using free and open source software:

And this, Prologix like open source kit.



I have two, both work very well.? Not the quickest, but good enough.?
I've used them with (so far) up to two instruments (MI sig-gen, & power
meter) just fine.

There is no reason why the design can't be "augmented" with "Real" bus
driver chips, if you have a "Full" rack of kit you need to use.

Regards.

Dave G0WBX.

(No affiliation, just a happy user.)

--
Created on and sent from a Unix like PC running and using free and open source software: