[time-nuts] problem with HP 59309A digital clock and HP IL/IB interface

[Hans Holzach]

   hi all,
   i have a small collection of old HP calculators, with the hp 71b being
   my favourite. as a watchmaker i thought it might be a good idea to add
   a digital clock HP 59309A to my collection. but this cost my quite a
   few hours of sleep as i encountered an unexpectd problem that i can't
   solve.
   i have already posted this problem to the forum of the HP-Museum, but
   unfortunately i could not get a solution. so i thought i should try it
   here.
   i have an hp 71b connected via HP-IL (version 1B) to an hp 82169C
   HP-IL/HP-IB interface (DEVID$ is HP82169A, though). an HP digital clock
   HP59309A is connected to the HP-IB interface.

   the IL/IB interface is in translator mode, hp-il address 3. the clock
   is addressable, address is 11.

   i can control the clock (set time, stop etc.) without problem (e.g.
   OUTPUT 11;"R" resets the clock). but i am not able to read from the
   clock. my latest attempt to read from the clock looked like this:

   RESET HPIL
   RESTORE IO
   SEND TALK11 (ADDRESSED light of the clock is now permanently on)
   ENTER :11 USING "#,9A";D$ (i also tried 10A, 11A etc. and ENTER LOOP)

   then the loop freezes, the hp71 does not respond to pressed keys, and
   the T/R light on the interface and the ADDRESSED light on the clock are
   permanently on. to continue i have to reset the hp-il interface.

   any help to solve this mistery would be much appreciated!

   thanks,
   hans