In a message dated 21/03/2008 02:13:32 GMT Standard Time,
die@dieconsulting.com writes:

This group seems to be very GPIB savvy, so I have a  question
(vaguely related to time and frequency) - is there a real  difference
between the half sized current one large chip NI PCI-GPIB card  and the
older and larger version with multiple chips that proceeded it  ?

Which would you buy on Ebay ? any gotchas  ?

I've no experience of the newer board, so not able to comment on any
differences, but I have recently identified one possible gotcha on the older  board.

Out of a batch of four that were otherwise in excellent, as new,  condition I
had two that weren't working.
Checking the boards showed that U10, the surface mount onboard oscillator,
was slightly lifted at one end on each of the faulty boards.
It turned out they'd been very lightly soldered and the joints had broken  at
that end, there was no indication they'd been knocked or otherwise  abused.
Examination of the two working boards showed similar weak soldering  even
though the joints on those were still intact.
After removing and resoldering the oscillators all boards are working  fine.
Other soldering on the boards looked ok but these, in surface mount terms
anyway, are quite large packages and the original soldering was definitely
inadequate.

I don't know if this was just a batch problem, or if it's a common  issue
with these boards, but certainly something to watch out for.

Other than that, the boards do all they should and work well.

With radio equipment and other kit demanding PCI slots though, I'm  finding
it more convenient now to use USB GPIB controllers.

Aside from a couple of the Softmark units from Australia I have two  "proper"
units so far, an NI GPIB-USB-A and a CEC USB-488, both of which  cost less on
Ebay than PCI cards often fetch, although getting them at  the right price
required a fair bit of patience, and probably a fair bit  of luck too:-)

One problem with these is that the NI installer for NI-4888.2 identifies  the
CEC software as an OEM variation of NI-4888.2 and requires it to be
uninstalled before the NI software will install.
Unfortunately, the NI installed software does not then recognise the CEC
unit, and vice versa.
There may be a work around for this but I haven't pursued it too far as  yet.

regards

Nigel
GM8PZR

H Dave,

Over the past 6 years I have bought 15 or more NI GPIB cards for use in PCs.
Nearly all of them have been bought on eBay. They have all worked fine.
National Instruments is the Rolls Royce of GPIB cards. Technical support and
driver support is first rate for all sorts of operating systems and
hardware, not just PCs. Their software includes good debugging tools and
manuals as well. There are more NI GPIB cards than any other brand on eBay.
They are the standard because they are simply the best and the easiest to
use.

There are three kinds of national Instruments GPIB adapters I have purchased
for the PC:

1. PCMCIA cards which come in two versions - newer and older. The older
   version, which has an attractive blue schematic design on it, comes in two
   variations. The PLUS variation has some advanced debugging capabilities but
   these capabilities do not work on later versions of Windows. The newer
   PCMCIA card is a rather dull light brown color. I typically pay about $175
   to $225 for either version of PCMCIA cards. Both the newer and the older
   ones work fine. The PLUS version is very rare and usually goes for over
   $300. Be sure you get a PCMCIA card with a cable. The cable is the only
   thing that seems to have changed between the older veresion and the newer
   version. The cable can be pulled out of the older PCMCIA card because it is
   not locked into the card. It has a different, wider, connector on it. The
   newer PCMCIA card has a narrower cable on it with two tiny metal ears that
   lock/unlock it to the card. In my mind this newer, locking cable is a
   disadvantage because a good yank on the cable will pull the PCMCIA card
   right out of your laptop, which makes the laptop very unhappy. With the old,
   non-locking, cable if you yank on the cable it will separate from the PCMCIA
   card but at least the card stays in the laptop and you can plug the cable
   right back in.

2. The PCI card. These typically go for $150 on eBay. They are very good but
   they are pricey. They are very common on eBay.

3. The ISA card. If your PC has an ISA slot then this is a real bargain.
   They go for $25 on eBay. They are not as common on ebay as they once were
   because people think they are have been replaced with the PCI versions. Look
   for one that specifically says TNT PNP. These cards are Plug and Play and
   they actually do work that way even though they were one of the first plug
   and play cards to come out. They are bug free and they work fine. But they
   come in several versions not all of which are Plug and Play. So be sure the
   one you are bidding on says PNP on it. It is marked on the top of the card
   in clear letters. TNT was their name for the chip they designed that did all
   the GPIB interfacing.

I have used John Miles software with the NI PCMCIA GPIB adapters I have. It
works fine. There is no reason at all why it wouldn't work with any of the
NI GPIB adapters.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: die@dieconsulting.com

This group seems to be very GPIB savvy, so I have a question (vaguely
related to time and frequency) - is there a real difference between the half
sized current one large chip NI PCI-GPIB card and the older and larger
version with multiple chips that proceeded it ?

Which would you buy on Ebay ? any gotchas ?

This is of course among other things for use with John Miles software... and
HP and Racal counters and so forth...

Dave Emery N1PRE/AE