usefulness of HP 82169A IL to HP-IB

[dmh]

I have one of these and it powers up but I have no way of testing it.

I've seen HP-IB to USB dongles but they aren't cheap.

I'm curious if anyone still uses these devices and what exactly for?

What's the smallest/cheapest HP-IB device that I could test with or would be useful?

TIA, dmh

[rprosperi]

You can easily check if it fundamentally works by connecting the HP-IL side and seeing if it responds on the loop (passes frames to other devices on the loop) or responds to queries for it's Accessory ID, etc. If the unit was dead, it will interrupt loop communications.

That won't check the HP-IB side, but if the HP-IL side is working it's highly likely it works OK, it's a pretty resilient device; I don't believe I've ever seen a report of one of these failing.

But if you have no HP-IB devices, why do you want to use it?

[dmh]

(07-13-2021 12:13 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  You can easily check if it fundamentally works by connecting the HP-IL side and seeing if it responds on the loop (passes frames to other devices on the loop) or responds to queries for it's Accessory ID, etc. If the unit was dead, it will interrupt loop communications.

That won't check the HP-IB side, but if the HP-IL side is working it's highly likely it works OK, it's a pretty resilient device; I don't believe I've ever seen a report of one of these failing.

But if you have no HP-IB devices, why do you want to use it?

I will check the IL side but it's not conclusive as you said.

It came with a batch of things and just wondering if it's worth trying to do something with it :-)

[cruff]

(07-13-2021 10:54 AM)dmh Wrote:  I'm curious if anyone still uses these devices and what exactly for?

I've used mine to communicate from my Mac via a Prologix USB GPIB device to my HP-71B on its HP-IL.

[KimH]

(07-13-2021 12:18 PM)dmh Wrote:  

(07-13-2021 12:13 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  You can easily check if it fundamentally works by connecting the HP-IL side and seeing if it responds on the loop (passes frames to other devices on the loop) or responds to queries for it's Accessory ID, etc. If the unit was dead, it will interrupt loop communications.

That won't check the HP-IB side, but if the HP-IL side is working it's highly likely it works OK, it's a pretty resilient device; I don't believe I've ever seen a report of one of these failing.

But if you have no HP-IB devices, why do you want to use it?

I will check the IL side but it's not conclusive as you said.

It came with a batch of things and just wondering if it's worth trying to do something with it :-)

I have a 5384A Frequency Counter which I can't find in the IL-Version (Opt 003) one of those where TAS Seller says Opt 003 but it wasn't - no returns. Works wonderful except it annoys me every time I turn this setup on, even though it is some 5 years ago.

[KeithB]

I have used it to connect to an HPIB printer.

There is a "built in diagnostic test"

set the mode/address switches to "011111"
The following should happen:
The T/R turns on at half intensity
The HPIB SRQ line is set to '0"
All other HPIB lines toggle between "0" and "1" at about 5 kHz
Data Byte 85 messages are sourced on HPIL continuously

ETA:
I *love* GPIB for instrument control. They have yet to come up with a way to perform a simultaneous trigger on all connected instruments via Ethernet or USB - or HPIL 8^).

[Garth Wilson]

I've used mine to interface to several pieces of lab equipment at once. (I think 15 is the fan-out limit.) I show a piece of sample HP-41cx program for it from an actual application at work in the late 1980's, at http://wilsonminesco.com/stacks/appenC.html .

If you don't want it, please eBay it so it gets into the hands of someone who appreciates it and puts it to good use. These things are too rare and valuable to get thrown out or put in storage and forgotten.

[dmh]

(07-13-2021 06:49 PM)KeithB Wrote:  I have used it to connect to an HPIB printer.

There is a "built in diagnostic test"

set the mode/address switches to "011111"
The following should happen:
The T/R turns on at half intensity
The HPIB SRQ line is set to '0"
All other HPIB lines toggle between "0" and "1" at about 5 kHz
Data Byte 85 messages are sourced on HPIL continuously

ETA:
I *love* GPIB for instrument control. They have yet to come up with a way to perform a simultaneous trigger on all connected instruments via Ethernet or USB - or HPIL 8^).

Thanks!

So I can test it and detect those outputs with a DMM?

[KeithB]

A scope would be better, but if your DMM can measure frequency it would be better than nothing.