[comp.misc] IEEE488 Extension

selmar@small-u.UUCP ( elmar folba) (02/11/88)

Hi everybody,
I need to connect two systems, both equipped with IEEE488 interface but
a few hundred feet distant from each others. I'm told there exist totally
passive and transparent extender gadgets which bridge the distance using
 a fibre optic cable.
Has anybody had practical experience with such devices?

Thank you for any hints.

Kind regards,		Elmar Folba
			C.H.F.Mueller GmbH
			Am Stadtrand 39
			D-2000 Hamburg 70, West Germany
			Phone (+49 40) 69425 168
			USENET mail: ...!unido!small-u!selmar

stroyan@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Mike Stroyan) (02/18/88)

>I need to connect two systems, both equipped with IEEE488 interface but
>a few hundred feet distant from each others. I'm told there exist totally
>passive and transparent extender gadgets which bridge the distance using
>a fibre optic cable.
>Has anybody had practical experience with such devices?

HP makes IEEE-488 extenders that use optical fiber or coaxial cable.
I have used them with plotters with no problem.  Such extenders are
practically invisible to the instruments, but there are additional
transmission delays.  This extra delay can be unacceptable to some
devices that use parallel poll, since the poll may time out.  Disk
drives are likely to have this problem.

The 1987 HP catalog lists the HP 37204A Extender using coaxial cable
at $925 U.S..  The fiber optic option is listed at an additional
$460 U.S..

I speak for myself, not HP.

Mike Stroyan, [hplabs!]hpfcla!stroyan

selden@hpspkla.HP.COM (Jon Selden) (02/20/88)

> I need to connect two systems, both equipped with IEEE488 interface but
> a few hundred feet distant from each others. I'm told there exist totally
> passive and transparent extender gadgets which bridge the distance ... 
----------
Contact your nearest Hewlett-Packard sales office and ask about the
HP37204A.  [We call IEEE488 "HP-IB".]    8-)