rgeorge@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Ranjit V George) (12/11/90)
What hardware and software is required to allow a PC to record output from different scientific instruments? I realize that this is a rather vague description of what it is that is required, but this is all I myself have to go by. Does this make sense? Is this possible? Are there any book(s) that I can refer to? Is there any PD software available that can be used to do this? I will need very basic information. Any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks. Varkki George (rgeorge@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu)
danr@ais.org (Daniel Romanchik) (12/12/90)
In article <1990Dec11.054908.4572@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> rgeorge@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Ranjit V George) writes: >What hardware and software is required to allow a PC to record output from >different scientific instruments? I realize that this is a rather vague >description of what it is that is required, but this is all I myself have to >go by. Does this make sense? Is this possible? Many instruments have a serial port which you can use to talk to the instrument to send it commands and receive measurements. Many also have an interface used exclusively for this purpose. It is called either an IEEE 488 interface or a General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) or HPIB (Hewlett Packard Interface Bus). IEEE 488 interface adapter boards are available from a number of suppliers, including National Instruments, IOTech, and Keithley Metrabyte among others. They also supply the software needed. >Are there any book(s) that I can refer to? Is there any PD software available >that can be used to do this? I will need very basic information. One book I have seen that I thought was pretty good is: _Laboratory Automation Using the IBM PC_ by Stephen C. Gates, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. ISBN 0-13-519828-3. Have fun, Dan (danr@ais.org)