GPIB IEEE 488 interface ideas for a home computer

[lucasdaytona]

Hello, I was organizing old boxes and I found this GPIB IEEE 488 full slot 16bit ISA adapter. Is there any home use for my computers? Here things range from XT Clones to current ones, all IBM Compatible. I have never used or worked with this interface, but the board is beautiful and I would like suggestions for uses. Thanks

 

[daver2]

Do you have the software (or a manual) for the card?

You can interface the bus to measuring devices (such as voltmeters) etc. and control them (select ranges, take readings) etc. from the PC.

But this does involve potentially purchasing other equipment...

Dave

 

[Eudimorphodon]

The old Commodore PET series computers used IEEE-488 to interface to peripherals like disk drives, and there is software out there to allow a PC fitted with a 488 card to emulate one of these drives. But I'll admit that's a pretty niche application.

 

[Chuck(G)]

IEEE-488 was mostly used for instrumentation and occasionally for storage and other peripheral interface. It's a parallel bus with a defined protocol. A lot of HP gear used this protocol (often referred to as GPIB or HPIB). I used to have an HPIB interface plotter.
Looking at your card, I wonder if the NEC µPD7210 is intended for the empty DIP socket, unless the IDT DIP is the controller.
In any case, you'll need driver software for your particular card.

 

[VeryVon]

2nd vote for HP / HP-86 Interfacing! But of course you would need one to hook up: https://www.hp9845.net/9845/projects/hpdrive/ (no affiliation with project)

 

[Chuck(G)]

Heck, my HP logic analyzer has a HPIB interface connector. Even though I've got an ISA IEEE488 card, I've never bothered to hook the thing up. If you look very deep into SIMTEL20, you'll also find that I released code to use the PC printer port to run that plotter. That was back in the Stone Age, however--intended for the XT world. The Victor PC (aka Sirius) could also use its parallel port as a GPIB connection--and was so advertised. Sitting in a corner of my shop, I have a suitcase-sized 40MB hard disk (Shugart SA4000 series) with a controller done in LSTTL that connects to a GPIB host.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

The Victor PC (aka Sirius) could also use its parallel port as a GPIB connection--and was so advertised.

Isn't the Osborne 1's "parallel" port also technically an IEEE488 port? (google) Yep. Its hardware implementation is pretty similar to the Commodore PET, probably not coincidentally.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Yeah, pretty much. About all that's really required is a bidirectional parallel port and a few control/status lines. Easily done with an 8255, say. There are also cards using a dedicated/embedded MCU, like the Intel 8292, which, I suspect is really an 8051 under the epoxy and the 8291 talker/listener.

 

[Ruud]

The old Commodore PET series computers used IEEE-488 to interface to peripherals like disk drives, and there is software out there to allow a PC fitted with a 488 card to emulate one of these drives. But I'll admit that's a pretty niche application.

Please see my CBM-HD project as example. But it uses a LPT and COM port as interface. But I wrote the software in such a way that you to replace some parts with code specific for the used hardware. Of course, using this program only makes sense if you have a Commodore PET or CBM.
Older HP computers, like the HP 150 Touchscreen, use IEEE as well. I have this machine but haven't found out yet how to communicate with it.

 

[Hugo Holden]

I did some work a while back on a GPIB interface for the PET. It is one way, from the PET out to a peripheral device such as a Printer or computer Terminal. It had a clever system in it to deal with PETSCII with a PETSCII to ASCII converter and it had some software controls. This machine helped me to understand the GPIB and it is true, GPIB was primarily designed as a way of communicating with scientific instrument peripheral devices that could all share the same bus.

National instruments made a lot of GPIB interfaces. They were once popular at NASA for performing scientific studies on devices like Rocket Motor Exciters, though once , one of the exciters they were testing at NASA had a high frequency resonance in its output waveform. This confused the recordings via the National Instrument's test interface and fouled up NASA's assessment of the unit, leading them to a false conclusion about its output spark energy. I stumbled across this quite by chance, many years later and figured out what had gone wrong with their assessment. It might not have been too obvious unless you assess the proportion of L,C & R in the output coil assembly and realize what what going on.

https://worldphaco.com/uploads/THE%20TAYLOR-WILSON%20PET%20PRINTER%20INTERFACE.pdf

https://www.worldphaco.com/uploads/GAS_TURBINE_ENGINES__AVIATION_AND_ROCKET_MOTOR_EXCITERS.pdf

 

[lucasdaytona]

Do you have the software (or a manual) for the card?

Yes, both software and manual, if anyone are willing to take a look, just PM me, or look here and also here.

I wonder if the NEC µPD7210 is intended for the empty DIP socket

My original picture was terrible, there's no empty socket, it's indeed a soldered NEC D7210C. Also a nice and rare IC (at least from what I've seen), take a look at the one on top with the Integrate symbol, for a Mathematician as I'm it's quite nice to see such a thing.

The Victor PC (aka Sirius) could also use its parallel port as a GPIB connection

The manual from the 488EX states that the board is capable of emulate a PC Parallel and Serial port, with appropriate code, the manual also have examples of various languages for implement of several uses. It's like you guys said, it's a interface with multiple capabilities

I have a suitcase-sized 40MB hard disk (Shugart SA4000 series) with a controller done in LSTTL that connects to a GPIB host.

I wonder the beautiful sound from this Shugart, should be something very unique. The disk is working?
.

2nd vote for HP / HP-86 Interfacing! But of course you would need one to hook up

Very fun use! But unfortunately I don't have anything like this here, not even possible to buy, there are nothing like this to sale around here. I will start looking for GPIB printers, maybe, a long maybe, I could find something here.

Thank you all for the reply, a lot of information and ideas!

 

[Chuck(G)]

My original picture was terrible, there's no empty socket, it's indeed a soldered NEC D7210C. Also a nice and rare IC (at least from what I've seen), take a look at the one on top with the Integrate symbol, for a Mathematician as I'm it's quite nice to see such a thing.

Yes, that's the logo for Integrated Device Technology. I can't find the datasheet for the part with a casual web search however.

I wonder the beautiful sound from this Shugart, should be something very unique. The disk is working?

I last tried it a few years ago, it worked then. Makes the floor shake on spin-up, it does.

 

[jafir]

Do you have the software (or a manual) for the card?

You can interface the bus to measuring devices (such as voltmeters) etc. and control them (select ranges, take readings) etc. from the PC.

But this does involve potentially purchasing other equipment...

Dave

There is an interesting video here where Shelby uses GPIB to control a multimeter and bench power supply:

I think he uses a more modern computer with a more modern GPIB card, but I assume something similar could be done with vintage computers too.

 

[daver2]

We used a Commodore PET at University to control laboratory instruments via the GPIB bus. This was years before the IBM PC...

Dave

 

[Eudimorphodon]

Please see my CBM-HD project as example. But it uses a LPT and COM port as interface. But I wrote the software in such a way that you to replace some parts with code specific for the used hardware. Of course, using this program only makes sense if you have a Commodore PET or CBM.

Ah. I think this is what I had in mind when I mentioned using an IEEE488 card to fake being a PET drive, but I guess I might have conflated that with HPdrive. (Which does need the IEEE488 board.)

 

[Ruud]

Ah. I think this is what I had in mind when I mentioned using an IEEE488 card to fake being a PET drive, but I guess I might have conflated that with HPdrive. (Which does need the IEEE488 board.)

HPdrive does what my software does but then for the HP. I only started to use it last weekend but with no success yet: I have problems configuring it. Will have another look this weekend.