[time-nuts] Prologix GPIB/USB converter help...

Tom Van Baak tvb at LeapSecond.com
Mon Apr 16 21:41:39 UTC 2007


> In that  case the new firmware will not be compatible at all. The new
> hardware uses  FTDI FT245R USB FIFO chip which has a parallel interface to
> the micro. Host  side USB drivers make it appear like a virtual serial port,
> which is why  all the serial port parameters can be  ignored.
> 
> Abdul
> 
> 
> Hi Abdul,
> 
> got it. Any chance you will make a GPIB-to-RS-232 version for us legacy  guys 
> out there?
> 
> thanks,
> Said

Abdul,

I very much second Said's request. There are plenty of
applications where the Prologix box would be used in an
embedded environment. USB is a very bad choice in this
case since it is a highly asymmetric interface (there are
a million USB devices but pretty much only a full-blown
PC can be a USB host).

Allowing serial (RS232 or SPI or I2C) in addition to USB
is a big plus. I'm sorry to hear your new version can't be
hacked to support this. Do you have any extra pins on
your controller? Could it be extended to support a serial
interface? You can talk to Said or me offline if you want;
but you unnecessarily shrink your market if you drop a
serial interface.

/tvb





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