[time-nuts] Getting GPIB to work on HP5382B Universal

Mike S mikes at flatsurface.com
Wed Oct 14 02:02:41 UTC 2009


At 09:01 PM 10/13/2009, Jerome Peters wrote...
>Thanks for your response, It is good to see that there are some 
>solutions.  However ~$1,250 for the Base version of LabView is a bit 
>steep for tinkering in the garage.

You can often find IOtech serial-GPIB converters on eBay for well under 
$100. Not as sophisticated, or as fast, as a Labview/bus based 
solution, but pretty easy to get readings using almost any language, no 
special libraries required. Getting a frequency reading from a 5328a 
would be something like (python):

#setup
IOtech.write('out 12;PF4G6R\n')
sleep(.2)
#trigger reading
IOtech.write('out 12;T\n')
#get reading
IOtech.write('enter 12\n')
freq = IOtech.readline()

I've got a couple of Micro488/EXs. They use a DS1216(C?) "smartwatch 
RAM" controller to provide non-volatile memory and a real time clock. 
The batteries on both eventually died, which produces an "NVRAM 
failure" error. The DS1216s are still available, but may be hard to 
find. I was able to use a Dremel tool to remove the epoxy encapsulating 
the original batteries, and wire in a couple of CR2032 
batteries/holders to give them an indefinite life. (I also got a couple 
of modern, lower powered CMOS RAMs - CY62256NLL-70PXC - to reduce the 
backup power requirements). They're probably good for another 20 years 
before the batteries need replacing, now. 




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