Hello Newsgroup,
Assuming some of you have the Prologix GPIB adapter. The manual just says to install the respective FTDI driver (select whether DLL access or COM port emulator). But: There are five dll-versions on the FTDI site. Which is the correct one?
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
The newest one for whichever chip they're using now? Mine is an old, bare-PCB version, sporting an FT232BL.
-- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Yes, but you need a couple of them. Is there any reason you can't just plug in your Prologix box and let the Windows "plug and play" wizard sort this out, just by pointing it to the appropriate .inf file? I'd download version
2.04.14 from here:Note that the FTDI drivers are now "universal" in that there aren't separate "VCP" and "D2xx" drivers... one driver performs both tasks. They made this change over a year ago now, but their web site isn't fully updated to reflect that change yet. :-(
---Joel
Yes, I am going to do that later this afternoon. Reason I asked here is because that has resulted in some other gear not working anymore before. IIRC a Rohde&Schwarz unit bit the dll's of a scope and vice versa because it defaulted to loading all of them. So I had to sort it out piece by piece until I found a scenario where both were happy, by loading the bare minimum.
That's a beta version, not yet cert'ed. I think I stay with 2.04.06. All I want to do is print to screen via GPIB.
Yep, all this does have some nerdiness factor to it ;-)
First I'll have to get the wrenches and unhook the lab rack, move it off the wall a bit. I had a chat with the designer (Abdul?) a while ago when he designed it, to give him some input. One suggestion was to let the USB come out sideways. But he didn't want to do it so now Prologix users who have their gear rack in front of a wall will run into clearance issues on large equipment. Or risk breaking something off. Later I'll see if Digikey has suitable loose USB-B plugs/sockets so I can kludge a really skinny wrap-around and mount the USB to the top. Or I'll hack the board, drill and just move the connector so it comes out the top.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Oops, good catch... I wouldn't have suggested a beta version if I'd seen that.
They probably figure that if National Instruments -- with a longer body than the Prologix box -- doesn't have the cable exit sideways, why should they? :-)
Hey, I'm surprised you didn't suggest they save the cost of the connector and just use a long pig-tailed USB lead like NI does. :-)
How about something like this? -->
---Joel
Ignore my suggestion about that USB adapter... I realized as soon as I hit "enter" that it's for the wrong end of the connection...
Here's a right-angle adapter for the *correct* end of the connection:
All of $0.35 plus shipping too!
I did suggest that as well :-)
I've also seen one for USB-B (needed here) but they are still bulky. Every inch of free lab table space counts. Oh well, got to compile that big Digikey year-end order anyhow.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Yeah, could work, still a bit bulky. I'll kludge it because then I can make it so sturdy that it won't matter should the unit be pushed against the wall some day. Don't want to hear a crunching sound when a client is waiting for the plots.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Has anyone used the ethernet GPIB?
No, but the USB version runs nicely now. The enclosure looks a bit flimsy but at least it's metal. They should not have put the jack in back because now I have to rework it sideways, not enough clearance. With the LAN version it'll be worse because it's longer. Also, that can put way too much torque on the GPIB connector so you'll have to strain relief that.
My remaining issue is that I don't have any software yet that can truly read a HPGL (not HP-GL/2) data dump that was meant for a ThinkJet or
7470 printer. The 7470.exe can only read HP-GL/2.-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Still noticeably shorter than the National Instruments USBGPIB box:
I do recall that early EDA tools often required a 7475 plotter, as the 7470 didn't have some of the fancier commands (I want to stay for, e.g., ellipses, arcs, etc., but don't recall the details).
---Joel
This area seems to be rather fuzzy. I found several remarks on the web that what goes to the plotter isn't necessarily fit for import into graphics programs. None of the sources went any deeper than that, just that it often doesn't work. And sure enough all graphics imports I tried on the *plt file errored. Couldn't get HP2xx under Linux to work either but that's like a real nerdy SW, totally command line and very scant docs.
Well, all I know is that this analyzer worked just fine with various plotters and the ThinkJet printers. But not via any PC program.
Maybe I should now look for a software that can read in PCL. Because my old HP-III (when it was still among us) could print this HPGL stuff just fine. "Modern" printers and SW seem to have lost that art. So I'll have to look in the dust bins of the web but it ain't the first time.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
or
Does this device work as a controller. That is, it just doesn't talk GPIB to one device, but can it run several devices at one time?
You can configure it as a controller or a device. AFAIK it can operate many GPIB client devices. However, when using the plot routine it is set to be a passive device and the analyzer must be set to "talk only".
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
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n yFor plots, the instrument is the controller, so that makes sense.
Hello,
We could not exit the USB (or Ethernet) cable through the sides because the thumbscrews (for securing the dongle to instrument) run close to the side along the entire length of the enclosure. And we could not work around it by making the enclosure wider because many instruments have other connectors stacked right beside the GPIB connector. Constrained for space, we chose to exit the cable though the back.
As others have suggested here, one can use a right-angle USB A-B cable if space is at a premium. If the instrument happens to jam into a wall, the thumbscrew heads will provide some degree of protection against the cable getting crushed. No, we have not done a crash test :-)
Thank you for the suggestions. They are always appreciated.
That is true when the plot is initiated from the front panel ("device initiated plots"). Plots can also be requested by sending the appropriate command to the instrument ("host initiated plot"). In such cases Prologix GPIB-USB acts as the GPIB controller and the instrument acts as a GPIB device.
Regards, Abdul Prologix --
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