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pamphonica · (This post was last modified: 11-21-2020 05:23 PM by pamphonica.)

Hi all,
I am tearing my hair out trying to get my PIL-Box linked to my HP Portable Pro.
It works sometimes with my HP71B, but seldom once I move cables to the PP.
The main issue is the cables, I think. Mine are all home-made (martin Hepperle's design), and they seem to fit poorly and not to be very reliable (my fault in 3D printing, I expect).
Every time I start to get sense on the HP-IL scope in ILPer, it stops shortly afterwards.
So please has anyone got some HP-IL cables squirrelled away that I could buy? 3 or 4 would be nice, any length.
I know there are a few on US Ebay but shipping makes those prohibitive.
At least I can hopefully eliminate one potential fault cause if I can find some cables closer to home..
Many thanks
Jeremy

Dave Frederickson · (This post was last modified: 11-22-2020 11:22 PM by Dave Frederickson.)

The contacts in Martin's cable design are the OEM contacts, so I don't think that's an issue. Depending on the length, the cable itself may be an issue.

One thing you can do to increase the robustness of the PIL-Box is to replace the series caps with pulse transformers.
Here're instructions on how to mod the PIL-Box, courtesy of J-F.

.pdf

PIL-Box mod transfo.pdf (Size: 719.85 KB / Downloads: 38)

Dave

Edit: I should mention that modification of the PIL-Box may void the warranty.

pamphonica · (This post was last modified: 11-22-2020 05:27 PM by pamphonica.)

I think the contacts themselves are fine - I got them from Martin. The final printed dimensions of the shells have caused a few problems with loose or tight fit. And there is a bit of judgement involved in finalising the depth of the contacts into the shells when glueing them in. I'm not sure I got that absolutely right, so may have issues there.
I might experiment with contacts on the end of wires without shells.

I probably made a rod for my own back though. I wanted my pil-box to look neat so printeda chassis connector pair as well, instead of cutting up a cable and soldering the two ends in, dangling. that adds a whole series of Jeremy-made connectors inline!

And thanks for the hint re pulse transformers - that sounds a wise upgrade.

-Jeremy

pamphonica · (This post was last modified: 12-03-2020 07:31 PM by pamphonica.)

Hopefully I will be getting a bunch of original cables shortly, so I should be sorted out.
I have scrapped two homemade cables and re-used the two halves with original connectors and connected them directly to my PIL-Box, and added the pulse transformers at the same time.
Works a lot better!
Thanks all.
-Jeremy