Sandhill Electronic Caliper = HP71B + 82162A + Fowler Ultra-Cal II

[Lourensk]

Hi everyone,

Just acquired a nice Electronic Caliber measurement system on our Dutch on-line market place for a very reasonable price.

The system:

1. HP71B: 2CDCC HPIL:1B

2. 82162A Thermal HP-IL printer with dead battery pack (4 replacement cells under order)

3. Fowler Ultra-Cal II digital caliper

4. 2x Custom PCB's manufactured by Sandhill Scientific Inc, Littleton, Colorado, USA. in a cute housing with panel lights for the 71B keyboard, with internal dead 7.2V Nicad.

I would like to show you this system as it seems there is no information to be found online anywhere.

While a complete 71B newbie I figured out a few things by reading a few articles in this great forum.

When I power the caliper PCB with external 7.2 VDC the system seems to work, the IL loop is closed when I leave the printer out.

But of course this system is useless as intended without the companion software which was not included, I assume this software resided on magnetic cards since the 71B is equipped with a card reader.

The good new is lot's of HP-IL connectors even chassis mounted versions, PIL-Box is under construction.

All the best,
Lourens.

[KimH]

NoNoNo - please don’t go “for parts” until we have applied our combined wisdom, maybe this thing actually work......

[Lourensk]

Don't worry...

Thats exactly the reason for this post.. to gather more information..perhaps even the orignal software, who knows..

And even when I would use some HP-IL wiring to connect a PIL-Box, I can always bring back this system into it's original state, since I have same NOS crimp connectors in stock.

Best Regards,
Lourens.

[mfleming]

Start with the caliper itself. Fowler no longer has the Ultra Cal II, but an updated version, Ultra Cal IV can be found here

https://www.fowlerprecision.com/Products...0-412.html

Like most high end calipers it has an RS232C interface. I assume the older model has the true +V/-V voltage swing. Examine and list the chip types if possible and maybe the H/W interface can be reverse engineered for starters.

Lucky dog!

[Ren]

Yes, I am going Off Topic here, because "Electronic Caliper" is in the title:

Last summer, I bought a Mitutoyo 551-227-50 (1 meter) electronic caliper at a garage/yard/tag sale for $25.
I figured, if it didn't work, it would still look awesome hanging on the wall (in the workshop - I have a wife!)
Surprise! It didn't work! The battery and compartment were green corroded.
Cleaning the compartment and replacing the battery resulted in a display that reads "E--o5".
Mitutoyo no longer makes this model and the display module is no longer available.

(So, I guess I may have to go the "object d' art" route.)

But, I'm wondering... IF the display could be "repaired" with a Raspberry Pi Zero transplant/mashup.

Does anyone here know how these things read the distance?

Thanks

(Moderator: I will not be offended if this gets moved to a different part of the fora.)

[KimH]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...9gtkgdAndp

(03-11-2021 04:35 PM)Ren Wrote:  Yes, I am going Off Topic here, because "Electronic Caliper" is in the title:

Last summer, I bought a Mitutoyo 551-227-50 (1 meter) electronic caliper at a garage/yard/tag sale for $25.
I figured, if it didn't work, it would still look awesome hanging on the wall (in the workshop - I have a wife!)
Surprise! It didn't work! The battery and compartment were green corroded.
Cleaning the compartment and replacing the battery resulted in a display that reads "E--o5".
Mitutoyo no longer makes this model and the display module is no longer available.

(So, I guess I may have to go the "object d' art" route.)

But, I'm wondering... IF the display could be "repaired" with a Raspberry Pi Zero transplant/mashup.

Does anyone here know how these things read the distance?

Thanks

(Moderator: I will not be offended if this gets moved to a different part of the fora.)

[Ren]

Thank you KimH!

It may be way over my head to repair this thing, but it is a good start!