USB to GPIB Hardware

[VK3APW]

Hi,
does any one have some advice as to what is available 'hardware wise' to put a current laptop on a GPIB bus to control an 'older' HP spec an, with a GPIB bus, please?
I would like to use it with the KE5FX tool box, that I think a few folk may already be using, for phase noise measurements.
If you have had some success, ( or flops ) with some particular hardware, or advice using this program, I would like to know about it.

regards

Peter vk3apw

[VK2XAX]

Hi Peter,

KE5FX's toolkit supports the Prologix USB GPIB adapter directly.

http://prologix.biz/

Shop around online ebay etc. for the best price.

[ZL2BKC]

DItto - it is what I use here. Assuming the Spec-An is listed in the PN you should not have any issues.

73,
Wayne ZL2BKC

[G4FRE]

I used to use an old NI converter on my xp laptop, but it didnt work on windows 7.

So I bought the prologix one a year ago and I am very satisfied with it, see http://g4fre.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/pro ... erter.html

Dave
G4FRE

[VK2LK]

Hi Dave, I have been interested in these devices for a while now, but I am curious as to why people prefer the USB version as opposed to the ethernet version..

Cheers
Matt

[VK4GHZ]

Hi,
does any one have some advice as to what is available 'hardware wise' to put a current laptop on a GPIB bus to control an 'older' HP spec an, with a GPIB bus, please?
I would like to use it with the KE5FX tool box, that I think a few folk may already be using, for phase noise measurements.
If you have had some success, ( or flops ) with some particular hardware, or advice using this program, I would like to know about it.

Discussed here almost 4 years ago.
The search is your friend.

Capture.PNG (2.72 KiB) Viewed 5104 times

To save retyping everything: http://www.vklogger.com/forum/viewtopic ... gix#p20738

Be aware some cheap Chinese adapter don't play with the KE5FX software.

[ZL2BKC]

Following up on my previous post, I got tempted by some cheap Agilent 82357B GPIB/USB interfaces recently listed on eBay.
As typically occurs they are listed from several dozen vendors, who probably deal with the same wholesaler (do we call them a wholesaler??)

There is speculation as to whether they are genuine or not. My verdict is they have been dumped on the surplus market because of the re-branding of Agilent to Keysight. They are 100% genuine looking at the device etc. Big clue is the plastic doesn't smell like a backstreet sewer in China

There are boxed and unboxed versions, but you can save money and just get the unboxed version like I did, and download the drivers from Agilent - search for IO Libraries Suite on their website.

Being a big user of the KE5FX tools it is supported if you enable the NI488.2 driver - the details are in Johns latest FAQ.

The extra software bits look great, but I have not had a chance to put it thru its paces yet. I do get the feeling it is substantially faster than the prologix for HPIB screen dumps. I also tested PN plots which worked a treat.

So there is now an option for less then US$80 on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/321182434550

The item was shipped using EMS tracked delivery, so it arrived in 10 days. The price has actually gone down since I purchased mine at $84 - maybe they want more sales due to the financial crisis

73,
Wayne ZL2BKC
http://www.zl2bkc.com