Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!super!udel!gatech!rutgers!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!perry
From: perry@madnix.UUCP (Perry Kivolowitz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: IEEE-488 Question.
Message-ID: <418@madnix.UUCP>
Date: 21 Jan 89 20:26:30 GMT
References: <2030146@hpcilzb.HP.COM> <410@madnix.UUCP> <5145@super.ORG>
Reply-To: perry@madnix.UUCP (Perry Kivolowitz)
Organization: ASDG Incorporated
Lines: 50

In article <5145@super.ORG> rminnich@metropolis.UUCP (Ronald G Minnich) writes:
>In article <410@madnix.UUCP> aaron@madnix.UUCP (Aaron Avery) writes:
>>I should mention that there is now a GPIB (a.k.a. HPIB; IEEE-488) interface
>>available for the Amiga. ASDG produces a GPIB module for the Twin-X general-
>>purpose I/O board.
>If i remember right Black Box will sell you an HPIB<->serial
>adapter in the $100-$200 range. This would work on any amiga; 
>I was under the impression that Twin-X is for A2000 only?
>Anyways, how much would a Twin-X->HPIB lashup cost?

A  Serial  To  GPIB  converter,  while  being  a  good  solution for those
who wish to dabble in GPIB, has some serious drawbacks for any substantial
use of GPIB equipment. 

The most serious, perhaps, is that IEEE-488 will send and receive data at
rates which are far higher than most computers can reliably send and  re-
ceive serial data. The reliability of Amiga serial receiving drops drama-
tically above 19.2KBaud (or about 1920 characters per second). Even if we
were to have reliable receives at 292KBaud we're still talking about less
than 30,000 characters per second.

Our IEEE-488 solution, for example, will send and receive at rates as high
as 200,000 characters per second.

Another difficulty with Serial To GPIB converters is the difficulty with
which GPIB control and status signals translate into serial counterparts.

The retail prices for the Twin-X/GPIB solution are:

Twin-X General Purpose Input/Output Board: $329
SBX-GPIB (A module implementing IEEE-488): $199

Twin-X can support 2 modules so after adding the SBX-GPIB module, there's
still one more available.

SBX-GPIB comes with a diskette containing our hardware level driver (actually
implemented as a library) as well as several sample applications. 

By The Way: ASDG offers a developer program under which ASDG will provide
hardware at a discount, technical assistance, and certain marketing and
logistical help. Our aim is to encourage the development of applications
which might not have been brought to the Amiga without the existence of
a general purpose i/o board (twin-x).


-- 
Perry Kivolowitz, ASDG Inc.
                          
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