USB-GPIB converters - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: moore
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 01:58:44 am
content: I'm guessing some of you have run into a similar problem. We have a few devices that have GPIB (aka IEEE-488) interfaces, and our tower PCs with loads of PCI/PCIe slots with GPIB adaptors are slowly dying. They can easily be replaced with a modern laptop, but then we need a USB adaptor to be able to talk to the GPIB devices. I would have thought this was a simple matter of just ordering them, but have found the options concerning: There are a bunch of cheap looking no-name adaptors out there, digging into them it seems like their drivers might be lacking ("binary transfer will be supported in the next release.."). OK, so how about the tried and trusted NI? They want US$900-$1200 each for these!Wow. So turn to eBay. There are a bunch on there, especially "new" NI ones, for much less than full price, like US$170. They've sold hundreds of these each. Great! Wait, hold up, I smell clones. This means even other people in the US selling what look like NI USB-GPIB adaptors might be clones too.Anybody have a clue about what's going on, or a source for a good model USB-GPIB convertor? $900+ seems crazy just to be sure of getting a good one. It's bordering on cheaper to replace the test instrument at the other end and get something with ethernet or USB built in. Thx.

author: J-R
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 03:30:20 am
content: My opinion is that PCI/PCIe is still be a better choice for GPIB than USB. There are plenty of legit ones on ebay: PCI for under $50, PCIe for $100-$200. Also, you can still get systems with PCI slots, like the Dell PowerEdge T40 (new) or the T30 (used).Personally, a tower (under the bench) with a huge monitor and a full-size keyboard and mouse is my solution. I've added USB, serial and GPIB cards to expand my port count.

author: pqass
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 03:48:55 am
content: How many do you need? If it's only a few and you're capable to undertake a kit assembly project (Arduino Pro Micro, IEEE488 connector, headers, and small PCB) see:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/ar488-arduino-based-gpib-adapter/msg3810788/#msg3810788

author: moore
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 06:25:03 am
content: Quote from: J-R on November 15, 2021, 03:30:20 amWhy? It won't be faster surely.And for our lab, we have too many computers and not enough space and time to maintain stuff. Laptops are more than enough for this use. If we were building a big complex system or had a central PC, I'd agree a tower is great, but this is just for keeping legacy stuff that's spread all over working. I wasted 2 hours just this week trying to get an XP tower to boot properly, and in the past spent way too much time swapping HDs, memory, battery, etc. The one RS-232 device I switched to a laptop is working fine after 5 years, and I barely have to touch it.

author: moore
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 06:28:21 am
content: Quote from: pqass on November 15, 2021, 03:48:55 amMaybe 4-5 total and we'll be set. Will check this out, maybe interesting. Thanks. Worried if they did well on the driver, but might be worth a try.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 06:30:54 am
content: As one who has made his own (GPIB-Serial) adapter, I can say it works for me, at least with mainstream instruments (Tek scope, HP spec an) -- but there are quirks even there, and probably more importantly: what are you doing with it? All your tooling / scripting / etc. will be on the tower machine (or if not exactly, then network interfaces to others, etc.?), and how much time will it take to port that over to something else (other interface, modern OS / language, etc.)? Keeping the (software) interface fixed (NI GPIB, VISA, etc.) may prove more valuable than the adapters themselves!Tim

author: pqass
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 02:00:27 pm
content: Quote from: moore on November 15, 2021, 06:28:21 amAccording to the manual (see:https://github.com/Twilight-Logic/AR488)"The interface firmware supports standard Prologix commands (with the exception of ++help) and adheres closely to the Prologix syntax but there are some minor differences. In particular, due to issues with the longevity of the Arduino EEPROM memory, the ++savecfg command has been implemented differently."One additional caveat on the pro-micro AR488 v3 hardware implementation (as per the link) is that it doesn't use bus driver chips (7516x). This may be a problem because, when unpowered, it may upset bus communications on GPIB buses with multiple devices. This isn't an issue if you use one AR488 per GPIB device. Also, the GPIB bus range/number of devices is limited without the drivers.

author: Venturi962
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 02:42:03 pm
content: If you're considering DIY, also considerhttps://github.com/xyphro/UsbGpib1 GPIB device per adapter but uses USBTMC rather than Serial, so easily works with common GPIB Apps.I built up several, if you're interested send me a PM

author: rodpp
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 02:56:19 pm
content: I bought an used Agilent 82357B, it is a genuine unit that were used with an Agilent chromatography. If you have no problem with used equipment, it could be a cheap good option and not too dificult to find genuine ones.It seems there are a lot of fake units, but users reported that even the fakes works ok:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flood-of-new-agilent-82357b-gpib-usb-adaptors-on-ebay-the-real-deal/A better option, but that I coudn't find with a reasonable price, is a GPIB-Ethernet adapter like the NI GPIB-ENET/1000, Tektronix AD007. Or better yet, the Keysight E5810B, that allow you to acces GPIB, USB and RS232 instruments using the LAN:https://www.keysight.com/us/en/product/E5810B/lan-gpib-usb-gateway.html

author: perdrix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 03:24:38 pm
content: After the grief I had with the Agilent (Keysight) IO libraries with the 82357B, I ditched that and bought an NI GPIB-USB-HS+ for about £100 on eBay (I did have to wait for some weeks before one came up at a price I was prepared to pay).David

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2021, 04:20:11 pm
content: I use an AD007 ethernet-GPIB adapter and pyvisa-py + python-vxi11 to control it from jupyterlab. I get to completely avoid the bloated craptacular Keysight and National Instruments libraries. It's great.