Yet Another Open Source USB to HP-IB/GPIB/IEEE 488 interface - AVR488 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Chernobyl
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2022, 02:23:15 am
content: [This post is more of a project announcement, but since this where the TE folks who more likely to be interested hang out I figured I should post here instead.]After collecting a variety of vintageboat anchors (HP 8165A, HP 6624A, HP 1661C, etc.), I was looking for a simple and low-cost way to talk to them using their HP-IB (aka GPIB aka IEEE 488) ports. I didn't find anything particularly cheap and/or easily-available (darn supply chain woes). So I designed and built my own: theAVR488.The design is based on a standalone ATmega168 or 328 (i.e., not an Arduino), SN7516x bus drivers, and a USB 2.0 serial interface. A key goal was to make it hacker/hobbyist friendly, and so all of the parts are through-hole devices for easy assembly. You can see what complete package looks like in the thumbnail below (thanks to JLCPCB for the PCB manufacturing).The USB and user interfaces are very similar to the PrologixTMGPIB-USB Controller, but for now mine only offers controller mode (I had no need for device mode so have not yet implemented it). The USB interface emulates a 38400 bps serial port and is compatible with terminal emulators, MATLAB, etc. Sending the command "++help" will return a list of supported commands.The firmware source and hardware design is offered under the GPL v3 license at GitHub (https://github.com/pchernikhowsky/AVR488) where you'll find:Firmware source code (for the MicroChip Studio 7 IDE)Schematic and PCB design (in KiCad format)Gerber files ready for uploading to your favorite PCB fab houseBill of materials (the parts cost including the enclosure is about $40 USD in quantities of one)Online user manualIf this is of interest to you, check out the GitHub repository and leave me any feedback/suggestions/comments. BTW: I have a handful of extra PCBs I'm happy to give away if anyone wants one.

author: DIYGUY Chris
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2022, 09:32:37 am
content: I've been doing similar stuff for a while (open source projects) so I highly respect your aptitude shared in this forum, are you active somewhere in social media, I wonder if you have an Instagram account or YouTube channel oriented for your project topics.I believe that your knowledge could help many through these social media platforms.Thanks and keep going : )

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2022, 09:57:38 am
content: There are problems with that approach:information becomes diluted. Even if the originator takes their time to duplicate their information on all channels, the responses aren't duplicated. That meansallreaders have to readallchannels.video isn't searchable, so google etc can't discover whether a video contains the specific information a reader wantsvideo isslow. My time is limited, so I quicklyexcludesources that aren't relevant. I can speed-read text pictures muchmuchfaster than I can view videos. Hence I rarely watch videosvideos rarely convey information that isn't easily stated in text/pictures. Too many videos are talking heads - with too many "ums", "ahs", etcinstagram == farcebook. Enough said

author: Chernobyl
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2022, 03:52:42 pm
content: Quote from: DIYGUY Chris on March 27, 2022, 09:32:37 amThanks for the kind words, but my $var(dayjob) already consumes my workdays (and more...), so I'd have little time to devote to producing and posting quality content. CuriousMarc has almost singlehandedly been responsible for rejuvenating interest in my long dormant electronics hobby (especially now that I can also afford to buy some of the vintage HP toys that I drooled over in university). I'm a HUGE fan of his, and he sets a high bar for content - anything less than that would seem like a disservice to followers. For now I'll just continue to lurk in the background and contribute when I can.

author: Chernobyl
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2022, 04:01:48 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on March 27, 2022, 09:57:38 amI echo this sentiment. YT and social media have their place, but the signal to noise ratio can be awfully low sometimes. Maybe someday I'll document the repair journey for my now fully functional HP 8165A Programmable Signal Source (for the three other people on the planet who might be interested), but if I did, it would probably be in blog format - not video or social media.

author: maxwell3e10
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2022, 07:43:25 pm
content: Thanks for sharing and welcome to EEVblog! Probably you didn't get a chance to browse it much, but there is another similar project, even with a similar name:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/ar488-arduino-based-gpib-adapter/It's been going for awhile now and has many variants. The basic starting point is just a bare Arduino, so can be build very quickly and cheaply. Since it's easily programmable, one can also make custom features that are not part of standard IEEE set.

author: pascal_sweden
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2022, 08:00:44 pm
content: Did someone on this forum use this to connect to a Commodore PET computer with an IEEE-488 interface?

author: Chernobyl
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2022, 12:58:39 am
content: Quote from: maxwell3e10 on March 27, 2022, 07:43:25 pmYup, thanks - I saw that one. The problem is that when I started working on this project late last year Arduino's were mostly unobtainium (and many still are). Fortunately, I still had a good stock on hand of various ATmega DIP devices. All I needed was a PCB to mount one on and some glue circuitry (and the firmware...). This was cheaper and easier than finding an Arduino (an AVR microcontroller on its own is 1/4 the cost of an Arduino board). Plus, I'd still have needed a PCB for the connector. Anyway, that was my rationale - but yes, it's always great to have nice to have choices.This is also why I called mine the AVR488 (since AR488 was already taken).