[time-nuts] OT: Anyone programmed HP 59306A relay actuator (orother old device)?

[Didier Juges]

David,

Yes, I have programmed both types of relay boxes (59306A and 59307A). I have
a couple of each here. As far as I recall (using a serial BlackBox GPIB
controller) there was nothing to it. These boxes don't even have a uC, they
just use TTL logic. How hard can it be :-) ?

I really do not recall any problem. The BlackBox controller does not use
ibxxx() commands, it has a few high level commands and I have found it to be
remarkably reliable. It works very well with all kind of older equipment (I
don't have much new stuff to check it with).

The code is in VB and very structured (i.e. hard to make sense of a
snippet), so I just summarize the commands I used:

1) to turn all channels off, send "B123456"
2) to turn channel 1 on: send "A1"

Any question?

Didier

> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com 
> [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On Behalf Of Dr. David Kirkby
> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 7:39 AM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: [time-nuts] OT: Anyone programmed HP 59306A relay 
> actuator (orother old device)?
> 
> I know this is a bit off-topic here, but has anyone here ever 
> programmed an HP 59306A relay actuator
> 
> http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/product.jspx?cc=US&lc=eng&
> nid=-536900193.536882169
> 
> which consists of 6 SPDT relays programmable via GPIB?
> 
> Over the years I have programmed a number of sophisticated 
> instruments including spectrum analysers, lock-in amplifiers, 
> the 5370B time-interval counter, 8970A noise figure meters,  
> bench multimeter etc. 
> On the face of it, I would think a box with only 6 relays to 
> be much simpler than any of these, but I am having a hard 
> time with it. It may be it's age - the commands needed might 
> be a bit different from anything I know.
> 
> I'm trying to control it with a National Instruments GPIB 
> board in a Sun workstation. (It's on a PCI bus and is the 
> same card one would use in a PC. ).
> 
> Page 3-4 of the  HP 59306A's manual (page 25 in the PDF) )
>  
> http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/redirector.jspx?action=ref
> &cname=AGILENT_EDITORIAL&cc=US&lc=eng&ckey=824199&nid=-5369001
> 93.536882169.07&pid=1000001496%3Aepsg%3Apro
> 
> has an example program, but it's unlike any example I have ever seen. 
> There's no ibdev, ibwrt or similar - its basically a list of 
> the state (high or low) of the control lines and digital IO lines.
> 
> Sequence #1 says
> EOP=high, REN=high, MRE=low, digital IO lines ascii '?'
> 
> I assume this is basically
>        dd=ibdev(0, gpib_address, 0, T3s, 1, 0);
>        ibclr(dd);
> 
> but I've no idea if this is so, since I'm not sure what lines 
> ibclr() sets high/low. I guess I will have to set up some 
> LEDs on the bus to see what is happening.
> 
> I'm pretty sure the  sequences 4 to 9 can be set with
> 
> ibwrt(dd,"A",1);
> ibwrt(dd,"3",1);
> ibwrt(dd,"5",1);
> ibwrt(dd,"B",1);
> ibwrt(dd,"3",1);
> ibwrt(dd,"A",1);
> 
> although it might be possible to use
> 
> ibwrt(dd,"A35B35",6);
> 
> (It's not clear to me if this can accept multiple commands at once).
> 
> Anyone got any ideas of what NI commands can be used to 
> executes sequences 1,2,3 and 10 in table 3-3?
> 
> David Kirkby
> 
> 
> 
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