JP
Jerome Peters
Wed, Jun 2, 2010 8:00 PM
Just curious about peoples experiences/thoughts about the HP5183A Waveform Recorder.
It's a 2 channel 12 bit digitizer with 512K word memory, 3MHz max sweep rate (no display, HPIB must be used to transfer data).
The sweep rate if pretty slow for a lot of applications, but the 12bit of vertical resolutions is intriguing, and both channels can have differential input capability.
I've seen some recently for ~ $100.00 but have been unable to find a manual.
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Just curious about peoples experiences/thoughts about the HP5183A Waveform Recorder.
It's a 2 channel 12 bit digitizer with 512K word memory, 3MHz max sweep rate (no display, HPIB must be used to transfer data).
The sweep rate if pretty slow for a lot of applications, but the 12bit of vertical resolutions is intriguing, and both channels can have differential input capability.
I've seen some recently for ~ $100.00 but have been unable to find a manual.
- Jerome
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This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution
is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by
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RK
Rick Karlquist
Wed, Jun 2, 2010 8:45 PM
I designed the memory board for that, among other things, and was
the project manager for a while. It seemed pretty daring to use
DRAM instead of SRAM, and 64k DRAM's at that. When we started,
4k DRAM's were mainstream, and 16k DRAM's were the next big thing.
By the time we got into production, 256k DRAM's were ubiquitous at $2.
It was a two box product. The digitizer proper and a "top box"
containing a display. There was a "private" HPIB between the
top and bottom boxes, as well as a "public" HPIB on the top box.
Due to pressure from customers, we eventually allowed them to
connect to the "private" HPIB connector on the bottom box
and not use the top box at all. The top box had a 9836 computer
inside of it running the Pascal operating system. Kind of like
newer instruments that have a Windows computer in them. Windows,
of course, didn't exist at the time, and even MS-DOS was barely
in existence. At that time, I would say the 9836 ran circles
around any PC.
It had an "adaptive sample rate" feature that seemed like a good
idea at the time, but turned out to be of limited usefulness.
BTW, the sample rate is 4 MHz. I don't know what you mean by
a 3 MHz sweep rate. Obviously, this wouldn't make sense.
You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
PC.
Rick Karlquist N6RK
Jerome Peters wrote:
Just curious about peoples experiences/thoughts about the HP5183A Waveform
Recorder.
It's a 2 channel 12 bit digitizer with 512K word memory, 3MHz max sweep
rate (no display, HPIB must be used to transfer data).
The sweep rate if pretty slow for a lot of applications, but the 12bit of
vertical resolutions is intriguing, and both channels can have
differential input capability.
I've seen some recently for ~ $100.00 but have been unable to find a
manual.
This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and
may contain
confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or
distribution
is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the
sender by
reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
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and follow the instructions there.
I designed the memory board for that, among other things, and was
the project manager for a while. It seemed pretty daring to use
DRAM instead of SRAM, and 64k DRAM's at that. When we started,
4k DRAM's were mainstream, and 16k DRAM's were the next big thing.
By the time we got into production, 256k DRAM's were ubiquitous at $2.
It was a two box product. The digitizer proper and a "top box"
containing a display. There was a "private" HPIB between the
top and bottom boxes, as well as a "public" HPIB on the top box.
Due to pressure from customers, we eventually allowed them to
connect to the "private" HPIB connector on the bottom box
and not use the top box at all. The top box had a 9836 computer
inside of it running the Pascal operating system. Kind of like
newer instruments that have a Windows computer in them. Windows,
of course, didn't exist at the time, and even MS-DOS was barely
in existence. At that time, I would say the 9836 ran circles
around any PC.
It had an "adaptive sample rate" feature that seemed like a good
idea at the time, but turned out to be of limited usefulness.
BTW, the sample rate is 4 MHz. I don't know what you mean by
a 3 MHz sweep rate. Obviously, this wouldn't make sense.
You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
PC.
Rick Karlquist N6RK
Jerome Peters wrote:
> Just curious about peoples experiences/thoughts about the HP5183A Waveform
> Recorder.
> It's a 2 channel 12 bit digitizer with 512K word memory, 3MHz max sweep
> rate (no display, HPIB must be used to transfer data).
> The sweep rate if pretty slow for a lot of applications, but the 12bit of
> vertical resolutions is intriguing, and both channels can have
> differential input capability.
> I've seen some recently for ~ $100.00 but have been unable to find a
> manual.
>
>
> - Jerome
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and
> may contain
> confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or
> distribution
> is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the
> sender by
> reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> 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.
>
>
PL
Pete Lancashire
Wed, Jun 2, 2010 9:12 PM
$17,800 the good days :-)
Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
-pete
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 1:45 PM, Rick Karlquist richard@karlquist.com wrote:
I designed the memory board for that, among other things, and was
the project manager for a while. It seemed pretty daring to use
DRAM instead of SRAM, and 64k DRAM's at that. When we started,
4k DRAM's were mainstream, and 16k DRAM's were the next big thing.
By the time we got into production, 256k DRAM's were ubiquitous at $2.
It was a two box product. The digitizer proper and a "top box"
containing a display. There was a "private" HPIB between the
top and bottom boxes, as well as a "public" HPIB on the top box.
Due to pressure from customers, we eventually allowed them to
connect to the "private" HPIB connector on the bottom box
and not use the top box at all. The top box had a 9836 computer
inside of it running the Pascal operating system. Kind of like
newer instruments that have a Windows computer in them. Windows,
of course, didn't exist at the time, and even MS-DOS was barely
in existence. At that time, I would say the 9836 ran circles
around any PC.
It had an "adaptive sample rate" feature that seemed like a good
idea at the time, but turned out to be of limited usefulness.
BTW, the sample rate is 4 MHz. I don't know what you mean by
a 3 MHz sweep rate. Obviously, this wouldn't make sense.
You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
PC.
Rick Karlquist N6RK
Jerome Peters wrote:
Just curious about peoples experiences/thoughts about the HP5183A Waveform
Recorder.
It's a 2 channel 12 bit digitizer with 512K word memory, 3MHz max sweep
rate (no display, HPIB must be used to transfer data).
The sweep rate if pretty slow for a lot of applications, but the 12bit of
vertical resolutions is intriguing, and both channels can have
differential input capability.
I've seen some recently for ~ $100.00 but have been unable to find a
manual.
This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and
may contain
confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or
distribution
is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the
sender by
reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
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.
$17,800 the good days :-)
Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
-pete
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 1:45 PM, Rick Karlquist <richard@karlquist.com> wrote:
> I designed the memory board for that, among other things, and was
> the project manager for a while. It seemed pretty daring to use
> DRAM instead of SRAM, and 64k DRAM's at that. When we started,
> 4k DRAM's were mainstream, and 16k DRAM's were the next big thing.
> By the time we got into production, 256k DRAM's were ubiquitous at $2.
>
> It was a two box product. The digitizer proper and a "top box"
> containing a display. There was a "private" HPIB between the
> top and bottom boxes, as well as a "public" HPIB on the top box.
> Due to pressure from customers, we eventually allowed them to
> connect to the "private" HPIB connector on the bottom box
> and not use the top box at all. The top box had a 9836 computer
> inside of it running the Pascal operating system. Kind of like
> newer instruments that have a Windows computer in them. Windows,
> of course, didn't exist at the time, and even MS-DOS was barely
> in existence. At that time, I would say the 9836 ran circles
> around any PC.
>
> It had an "adaptive sample rate" feature that seemed like a good
> idea at the time, but turned out to be of limited usefulness.
>
>
> BTW, the sample rate is 4 MHz. I don't know what you mean by
> a 3 MHz sweep rate. Obviously, this wouldn't make sense.
>
> You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
> PC.
>
> Rick Karlquist N6RK
>
>
> Jerome Peters wrote:
>> Just curious about peoples experiences/thoughts about the HP5183A Waveform
>> Recorder.
>> It's a 2 channel 12 bit digitizer with 512K word memory, 3MHz max sweep
>> rate (no display, HPIB must be used to transfer data).
>> The sweep rate if pretty slow for a lot of applications, but the 12bit of
>> vertical resolutions is intriguing, and both channels can have
>> differential input capability.
>> I've seen some recently for ~ $100.00 but have been unable to find a
>> manual.
>>
>>
>> - Jerome
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and
>> may contain
>> confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or
>> distribution
>> is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the
>> sender by
>> reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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.
>>
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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.
>
RK
Rick Karlquist
Wed, Jun 2, 2010 9:25 PM
$17,800 the good days :-)
Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
-pete
I'm not sure if it got "published" or was "leaked" to
certain customers. I vaguely remember having to document
it. I just remembered that the HPIB "phy" chip used
was made by TI and had a bug in it. TI refused to fix
the bug. (The other two vendors of phy chips also had
bugs). If you made continuous measurements, about once
a day it would go into serial poll mode and hang. However,
I believe the fault was in the top box.
Rick
Pete Lancashire wrote:
> $17,800 the good days :-)
>
> Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
>
> -pete
I'm not sure if it got "published" or was "leaked" to
certain customers. I vaguely remember having to document
it. I just remembered that the HPIB "phy" chip used
was made by TI and had a bug in it. TI refused to fix
the bug. (The other two vendors of phy chips also had
bugs). If you made continuous measurements, about once
a day it would go into serial poll mode and hang. However,
I believe the fault was in the top box.
Rick
PL
Pete Lancashire
Wed, Jun 2, 2010 9:34 PM
pity not a stand alone instrument, I was offered one for free and have seen them
on the E for as little as $20.
-pete
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Rick Karlquist richard@karlquist.com wrote:
$17,800 the good days :-)
Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
-pete
I'm not sure if it got "published" or was "leaked" to
certain customers. I vaguely remember having to document
it. I just remembered that the HPIB "phy" chip used
was made by TI and had a bug in it. TI refused to fix
the bug. (The other two vendors of phy chips also had
bugs). If you made continuous measurements, about once
a day it would go into serial poll mode and hang. However,
I believe the fault was in the top box.
Rick
pity not a stand alone instrument, I was offered one for free and have seen them
on the E for as little as $20.
-pete
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Rick Karlquist <richard@karlquist.com> wrote:
> Pete Lancashire wrote:
>> $17,800 the good days :-)
>>
>> Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
>>
>> -pete
>
> I'm not sure if it got "published" or was "leaked" to
> certain customers. I vaguely remember having to document
> it. I just remembered that the HPIB "phy" chip used
> was made by TI and had a bug in it. TI refused to fix
> the bug. (The other two vendors of phy chips also had
> bugs). If you made continuous measurements, about once
> a day it would go into serial poll mode and hang. However,
> I believe the fault was in the top box.
>
> Rick
>
PS
paul swed
Thu, Jun 3, 2010 12:14 AM
Unfortunately not worth messing with. I have the 5180 in the basement (At
least thats what I think it is. Been a long time) There is one heck of a
switching supply and over age it becomes troublesome. It may be $20 on epay,
but shippings $100....
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 5:34 PM, Pete Lancashire pete@petelancashire.comwrote:
pity not a stand alone instrument, I was offered one for free and have seen
them
on the E for as little as $20.
-pete
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Rick Karlquist richard@karlquist.com
wrote:
$17,800 the good days :-)
Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
-pete
I'm not sure if it got "published" or was "leaked" to
certain customers. I vaguely remember having to document
it. I just remembered that the HPIB "phy" chip used
was made by TI and had a bug in it. TI refused to fix
the bug. (The other two vendors of phy chips also had
bugs). If you made continuous measurements, about once
a day it would go into serial poll mode and hang. However,
I believe the fault was in the top box.
Rick
Unfortunately not worth messing with. I have the 5180 in the basement (At
least thats what I think it is. Been a long time) There is one heck of a
switching supply and over age it becomes troublesome. It may be $20 on epay,
but shippings $100....
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 5:34 PM, Pete Lancashire <pete@petelancashire.com>wrote:
> pity not a stand alone instrument, I was offered one for free and have seen
> them
> on the E for as little as $20.
>
> -pete
>
> On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Rick Karlquist <richard@karlquist.com>
> wrote:
> > Pete Lancashire wrote:
> >> $17,800 the good days :-)
> >>
> >> Did the user i/f to the HPIB ever get published ?
> >>
> >> -pete
> >
> > I'm not sure if it got "published" or was "leaked" to
> > certain customers. I vaguely remember having to document
> > it. I just remembered that the HPIB "phy" chip used
> > was made by TI and had a bug in it. TI refused to fix
> > the bug. (The other two vendors of phy chips also had
> > bugs). If you made continuous measurements, about once
> > a day it would go into serial poll mode and hang. However,
> > I believe the fault was in the top box.
> >
> > Rick
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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.
>
J
jimlux
Thu, Jun 3, 2010 5:03 AM
You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
PC.
Or heck, eval boards for 12 bit ADCs that have USB interfaces..
> You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
> PC.
>
Or heck, eval boards for 12 bit ADCs that have USB interfaces..
DL
Don Latham
Thu, Jun 3, 2010 5:59 AM
and 16-bit DAC's to drive vco's. I believe using these in a digital pll was
discussed some months back?
Don
----- Original Message -----
From: "jimlux" jimlux@earthlink.net
To: richard@karlquist.com; "Discussion of precise time and frequency
measurement" time-nuts@febo.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 11:03 PM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - HP 5183A Waveform Recorder - is it worth
playing with?
You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
PC.
and 16-bit DAC's to drive vco's. I believe using these in a digital pll was
discussed some months back?
Don
----- Original Message -----
From: "jimlux" <jimlux@earthlink.net>
To: <richard@karlquist.com>; "Discussion of precise time and frequency
measurement" <time-nuts@febo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 11:03 PM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - HP 5183A Waveform Recorder - is it worth
playing with?
>
>> You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
>> PC.
>>
>
> Or heck, eval boards for 12 bit ADCs that have USB interfaces..
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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.
>
JP
Jerome Peters
Thu, Jun 3, 2010 8:01 PM
Just wanted to say "Thanks" to all those who commented on the HP 5183A Waveform Recorder
... I'm sure glad that I did not buy it and then ask :)
Regards,
Jerome
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of jimlux
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 10:03 PM
To: richard@karlquist.com; Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - HP 5183A Waveform Recorder - is it worth playing with?
You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
PC.
Or heck, eval boards for 12 bit ADCs that have USB interfaces..
This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution
is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by
reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
Just wanted to say "Thanks" to all those who commented on the HP 5183A Waveform Recorder
... I'm sure glad that I did not buy it and then ask :)
Regards,
Jerome
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of jimlux
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 10:03 PM
To: richard@karlquist.com; Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - HP 5183A Waveform Recorder - is it worth playing with?
> You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
> PC.
>
Or heck, eval boards for 12 bit ADCs that have USB interfaces..
_______________________________________________
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution
is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by
reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PL
Pete Lancashire
Thu, Jun 3, 2010 8:39 PM
just a comment on using low cost setups
one thing they all dont have is the front end not only the amplifier but
programmable attenuator(s).
now there would be something neat as a stand alone black box to usb
-pete
On Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 1:01 PM, Jerome Peters jpeters@nvidia.com wrote:
Just wanted to say "Thanks" to all those who commented on the HP 5183A Waveform Recorder
... I'm sure glad that I did not buy it and then ask :)
Regards,
Jerome
-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of jimlux
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 10:03 PM
To: richard@karlquist.com; Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - HP 5183A Waveform Recorder - is it worth playing with?
You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
PC.
Or heck, eval boards for 12 bit ADCs that have USB interfaces..
This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution
is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by
reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
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.
just a comment on using low cost setups
one thing they all dont have is the front end not only the amplifier but
programmable attenuator(s).
now there would be something neat as a stand alone black box to usb
-pete
On Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 1:01 PM, Jerome Peters <jpeters@nvidia.com> wrote:
> Just wanted to say "Thanks" to all those who commented on the HP 5183A Waveform Recorder
> ... I'm sure glad that I did not buy it and then ask :)
>
> Regards,
> Jerome
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces@febo.com] On Behalf Of jimlux
> Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 10:03 PM
> To: richard@karlquist.com; Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - HP 5183A Waveform Recorder - is it worth playing with?
>
>
>> You can, of course, now get 12 bit digitizer PCI cards for your
>> PC.
>>
>
> Or heck, eval boards for 12 bit ADCs that have USB interfaces..
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
> confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution
> is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by
> reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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.
>
