Path: utzoo!yunexus!maccs!cs4g6ag From: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: IEEE-488 Interface? Message-ID: <2550667D.13046@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> Date: 2 Nov 89 16:08:28 GMT Article-I.D.: maccs.2550667D.13046 References: <8910250801.AA04854@euler.Berkeley.EDU> Reply-To: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn) Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Lines: 31 In article <8910250801.AA04854@euler.Berkeley.EDU> ndeng@EULER.BERKELEY.EDU writes: $I heard some peripherals use an "IEEE-488 interface" instead of RS232 serial $or Centronics parallel. What is it? Is this interface compatible to RS232? $Do I need to buy a special card for this interface in case I have a device $to use on my pc? Wher can I get the card? any recommendations? IEEE-488 (a.k.a. GPIB for General Purpose Interface Bus or HPIB for HP) is an 8-bit parallel bus standard allowing for one or more bus masters and several slaves (I'm not sure what the maximum is). It is typically used for controlling instrumentation, although it can be used for other tasks (if you ever used Commodore PETs, their disk drives and printers were all hooked up to it by GPIB). Oh, it's fully bidirectional. The standard specifies the signal lines, levels, etc ... everything right down to the size and shape of the connector to be used. It's a dual-headded connector, so to plug two connectors onto one device, you first plug one connector onto the device, then you plug the second connector into the first. A pretty good scheme, except that if you get a whole string of them, you have to prop them up (even though they're held in by screws, they still tend to twist and occasionally break contact). You'll need a special card for your PC and some software in order to use this standard. If you look through BYTE or similar magazines, you'll find lots of ads for GPIB boards and software for PCs. -Steve -- Stephen M. Dunn cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca = "\nI'm only an undergraduate!!!\n"; **************************************************************************** They say the best in life is free // but if you don't pay then you don't eat