[time-nuts] FE-5680A Mechanical Question

[Jim Lux]

On 1/13/12 3:46 PM, Chris Albertson wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 3:18 PM, Jim Lux<jimlux at earthlink.net>  wrote:
>> On 1/13/12 2:51 PM, Chris Albertson wrote:
>>>
>>> $150 is $130 more than $20.   It depends on if an ISA type computer
>>> shows up for free.  I'm having doubts that one will.  They seem to
>>> have become valuable.  The machine would need to be at least a Pentium
>>> II so it could boot off the network and then mount some disk space.  I
>>> know what you mean about maintenance so i don't want any disk inside
>>> and no OS installed.
>>>
>>> I'm surprised that no one has built a GPIB controller from a uP.
>>> Electrically the GPIB is simple and slow by modern standards.
>>>
>>
>> That's exactly what the Prologix is... a microcontroller that implements
>> IEEE-488/GPIB with a command interface (serial port emulation with USB)
>>
>> Maybe what you mean is "why has nobody published a design and software for
>> free?"
>
> I've been Googling,....
>
> Yes there is a free published.  It appears to be the very much like
> the Prologix.  The Prologix was the next iteration of this design.
> http://lpvo.fe.uni-lj.si/en/raziskave/elektronika/podatkovni-in-merilni-vmesniki/
>
>

Fascinating.. so basically, by spending $150 you save whatever time 
you'd spend buying the $50 worth of parts (which might be more by now) 
and assembling it.  Seems a nice way to cover both ends of the user 
spectrum.