[time-nuts] Frequency Counter Choice

[jimlux]

On 10/22/20 7:09 PM, Elio Corbolante wrote:
>>> While I love my Prologix adapters, I wonder if one could implement the
>>> protocol using GPIO pins on something like a Beagleboard or Arduino clone?
>>> (yes, as a product, with the right connector and line driver/receivers,
>>> etc. - it would cost the same as a Prologix... but as a hack...)
>>
> 
> @jimlux:
> Take a look at the following project:
> https://github.com/Twilight-Logic/AR488 and
> https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/ar488-arduino-based-gpib-adapter/
> https://oshpark.com/profiles/artag
> For more details or if you need a PCB for the Arduino Micro (32u4-v3-gbr)
> please send me a private message
> 
> _    


That is way cool.

And interestingly, if you wanted to use the TI bus driver chips, they're 
still available and inexpensive (<$3)

I'm not getting new GPIB gear any time soon, but the idea of a WiFi/GPIB 
that pulls power from the host instrument is intriguing.

At work, we build up racks of gear to test spacecraft and various 
systems, and I've spent way too many hours in days gone by trying to get 
just the right cabling to get it to reliably work. The Prologix units 
are great, Ethernet cables are easier to manage than those shielded GPIB 
cables - and there's galvanic isolation inherent in the Ethernet. But 
all those wall warts (still, easier to manage than GPIB cables).

I'm going to pass this on to some of the folks who put together these 
systems.