Usually, the adapters work fine. Two instances where they _may_ not: 1. Devices that are powered from "unused" serial lines. 2. Applications that perform direct twiddling of serial lines, instead of using host OS functions. -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of Matthew Smith Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 6:26 PM To: Time Nuts List Subject: [time-nuts] USB to Serial Connectors for GPS Modules Hi Folks Are there any issues with connecting computers to GPS modules through USB to serial devices like the FTDI FT232R, as opposed to 'native' serial ports? At the moment, I'm thinking in the context of an NTP server, but am interested in a general context should I need to move to USB-only PCs. Didn't know if there were any latency issues or anything. Cheers M -- Matthew Smith Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/ Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.

While I have no experience with Thunderbolt, I have tested a lot of USB-Serial converters and found ones with the FTDI chip to be the most reliable, hardware and software wise. http://www.saelig.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=U003 -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of Javier Herrero Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:13 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt and USB to RS232 converters I've been using it with Prolific PL2303 based converters with no problem at all (Aten brand, in my case). Regards, Javier Jeroen Bastemeijer escribió: > Dear All, > > More and more people are starting to play with the Thunderbolts. I > already received mine :-) Now playing around with them. > > First I powered it up and connected it to the normal serial port of the > PC. The Thunderbolt behaved fine, self survey took some time, because > the antenna is inside a concrete building with very limited view to the sky. > > However, next I did a test with the same Thunderbolt but now it was > connected to a USB to Serial converter (brand is Sweex). After > switchinhg it off and on, I expected the same behaviour as when it was > connected to the "real" serial port. But... it started to behave very > strange... instead of starting a normal survey, it started disciplining > after a couple of minutes (almanac was not even valid). The DAC-voltage > clipped to the power rail, and the SV and AMU-fields remained "?". > Resetting (hot, cold, factory default) didn't make any difference. > When power cycling the unit and connecting it back to the normal serial > port the normal behaviour returned. I assume it has something to do with > the USB to serial converter. Is there anyone else with similar > experience? Or who has used a USB to serial converter with succes? > > Thank you, best regards, > > Jeroen > -- {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang3082{\fonttbl{\f0\fmodern\fprq1\fcharse t0 Courier New;}{\f1\fswiss\fcharset0 Arial;}} {\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------\par Javier Herrero EMAIL: jherrero@hvsistemas.com\par HV Sistemas S.L. PHONE: +34 949 336 806\par Los Charcones, 17A FAX: +34 949 336 792\par 19170 El Casar - Guadalajara - Spain WEB: http://www.hvsistemas.com\f1\par } _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.

Bill, How are you reading from 5334A? Is the read-after-write mode OFF? I recommend the following sequence: ++auto 0 -- turn off read-after-write ++read eoi -- read until EOI is asserted by the instrument ++read eoi .... (If your instrument does not assert EOI, specify a character to terminate ++read command. See manual for details.) Yes, ++read will address the instrument to talk, read any output, and then address it to listen. We are testing an update that resets the controller if it detects a hung GPIB bus. I can send that to you offline. Regards, Abdul -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of wje Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 3:12 PM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: [time-nuts] Prologix GPIB-NET, HP 5370A, HP5334A problem? I just got one of the new networked GPIB controllers, and I've been having some issues. I'm not sure if it's the Prologix or the instruments, or both. With the 5370A, I can get samples for some period of time ranging from about 2 to 4 hours before the GPIB controller stops responding. I suspect this one might be the 5370A -488 controller bug I've heard of. However, there is no way to recover without power-cycling the Prologix. Even if this is the 5370A, the Prologix should really have an asynchronous reset capability. With the 5334A, I can get samples for as long as I want, no problem. However, if I set the 5334A to 'WA1' mode, which is supposed to wait until the counter is addressed before taking each sample, what happens is that I can read one value. Every successive read returns the same value; the 5334A never triggers for a new sample. Either I don't understand the behavior of WA1, although HP's sample program indicates that what I've described is proper, or there is some incompatibility between the Prologix and the 5334A. Unfortunately, the documentation for the Prologix is scanty at best. There is no description of the actual IEEE-488 handshake process that's going on. For example, does the Prologix do an unlisten after a read? The HP docs seem to indicate that in WA1 mode, a sample starts when the 5334A is addressed. So, if it's never unlistened, perhaps it never takes a new sample? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. -- Bill Ezell ---------- They said 'Windows or better' so I used Linux. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.

You could try explicitly triggering with ++trg followed by ++read 10. -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of wje Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 4:14 PM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Prologix GPIB-NET, HP 5370A, HP5334A problem? YI don't use read-after-write, and I explicitly set it off before reading. However, I did try it once just for fun, and it does work as expected. The 5334 doesn't seem to assert eoi, so I do a '++read 10', which works just fine except for the WA1 strangeness. Bill Ezell ---------- They said 'Windows or better' so I used Linux. Prologix wrote: > Bill, > > How are you reading from 5334A? Is the read-after-write mode OFF? > I recommend the following sequence: > > ++auto 0 -- turn off read-after-write > ++read eoi -- read until EOI is asserted by the instrument > ++read eoi > .... > > (If your instrument does not assert EOI, specify a character to terminate > ++read command. See manual for details.) > > Yes, ++read will address the instrument to talk, read any output, and then > address it to listen. > > We are testing an update that resets the controller if it detects a hung > GPIB bus. I can send that to you offline. > > Regards, > Abdul > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On > Behalf Of wje > Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 3:12 PM > To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement > Subject: [time-nuts] Prologix GPIB-NET, HP 5370A, HP5334A problem? > > I just got one of the new networked GPIB controllers, and I've been > having some issues. I'm not sure if it's the Prologix or the > instruments, or both. > > With the 5370A, I can get samples for some period of time ranging from > about 2 to 4 hours before the GPIB controller stops responding. I > suspect this one might be the 5370A -488 controller bug I've heard of. > However, there is no way to recover without power-cycling the Prologix. > Even if this is the 5370A, the Prologix should really have an > asynchronous reset capability. > > With the 5334A, I can get samples for as long as I want, no problem. > However, if I set the 5334A to 'WA1' mode, which is supposed to wait > until the counter is addressed before taking each sample, what happens > is that I can read one value. Every successive read returns the same > value; the 5334A never triggers for a new sample. Either I don't > understand the behavior of WA1, although HP's sample program indicates > that what I've described is proper, or there is some incompatibility > between the Prologix and the 5334A. > > Unfortunately, the documentation for the Prologix is scanty at best. > There is no description of the actual IEEE-488 handshake process that's > going on. For example, does the Prologix do an unlisten after a read? > The HP docs seem to indicate that in WA1 mode, a sample starts when the > 5334A is addressed. So, if it's never unlistened, perhaps it never takes > a new sample? > > Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. > > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.

Closing the loop... Latest firmware updates available at http://prologix.biz includes the ++savecfg command to temporarily disable automatic saving of configuration parameters (including address). Please see manual for details. Regards, Abdul -----Message d'origine----- De : time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] De la part de Mark Sims Envoyé : lundi 6 juillet 2009 18:54 À : time-nuts@febo.com Objet : [time-nuts] Prologix GPIB-USB vs. GPIB-LAN vs. NI was: AW: Prologix GPIB-USB vs. GPIB-LAN The Prologix adapter has a ++addr command for changing the GPIB address. You can select different instruments that way. Unfortunately, the version I looked seems to have a potentially fatal flaw. When you change the ++addr, the device writes the internal microprocessor EEPROM. The EEPROM is speced a 1 million write cycles. If you changed instruments at once a second, in under two weeks the chip could be toast. My app could have worn out the chip in under a day... All this assumes that Prologix did not implement some sort of elaborate wear leveling scheme in their software, but I suspect not. They seem to have intended one to set up the device to talk to one instrument then save that configuration in the chip. Dynamically hammering the thing to death with address changes was not the intention of the ++addr command.

Hello all,   One of our distributors - SparkFun Electronics - is having a "free day" sale on Jan 7, 2010. The first 1000  orders placed between 9AM and 11PM (Mountain Time) on January 7, 2010 get a $100 discount.   You can find complete details at http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/news.php?id=305   Prologix GPIB Controllers are listed at: GPIB-USB - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=549   GPIB-ETHERNET - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8841   [Note: All SparkFun products will be on sale, not just Prologix controllers.]   Regards, Abdul  

http://www.economist.com/node/21540211

Hello, Most likely a phishing mail. Please ignore. We will let SgLabs know. Regards. Abdul -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of cfo Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 8:48 AM To: time-nuts@febo.com Subject: [time-nuts] Anyone from Italy here ? Hi T-Nuts In january 2012 - I bought a Prologix GPIB interface from an Italian Seller "sglabs" on the "Bay". Today i received a mail from the seller ******************** SNIP ************************* I need a favor form you… Here in Italy is requiring by law…. that for all customers that have bought something from us, I need to have also birthplace and birthday… I’m sorry to disturb for this reason, but I need help from you. Thanks for collaboration Best regards ******************** SNIP ************************* The mail actually looks quite authentic , Correct name & phone# etc. But i have never heard of such a request before. And was wondering if any Italian T-Nut could verify that this request is valid. It seems a bit strange to me ... TIA CFO - Tnut beginner Denmark _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.

Hi Jim, We recommend starting with the procedure described in the FAQ to verify connectivity: http://prologix.biz/gpib-ethernet-1.2-faq.html Regards, Abdul -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of Jim Lux Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 8:16 AM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: [time-nuts] GPIB, Proloigix, cables I spent a couple frustrating hours debugging a test setup with programmable power supplies and counters (to make automated measurements of freq/Vtune on some VCOs, as well as "Vsupply pushing") I'm using something hacked from the sample Python code and the Prologix Ethernet device (which has been wonderful for the past few years), but this time it was a positive ordeal. I would get timeouts and error messages back from the devices. Turns out that I had one bad cable and one with a little piece of paper that had gotten into the connector when mating it. So.... is there some sort of systematic test scheme using the Prologix that can be used to check out a setup? Or using John Miles's Prologix Configurator to exercise it. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.

Hi Stan, As per the GPIB standard [1], valid primary addresses are 0-30. A few instruments use address 31 to specify TALK ALWAYS mode, but it is by no means a standard. Not even among HP/Agilent devices. [1] ANSI/IEEE Std 488.1-1987 Regards, Abdul -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of stan, W1LE Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2013 12:23 PM To: time-nuts@febo.com Subject: [time-nuts] GPIB/HPIB Address 31, Talk Only Hello The Net, Is address 31, for talk only, a HP/Agilent feature only, or do tothers provide talk only on the buss ? I am looking at RF frequency counters to 12 GH, for use with TimeLab. Stan, W1LE Cape Cod FN41sr _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.