9 Jul
2004
9 Jul
'04
1:57 p.m.
On Fri, Jul 09, 2004 at 05:41:42PM -0700, Al Kossow wrote:
This is another reason why PC based test equipment is
a Bad Thing.
Here are lots of nice digitizing scopes, power supplies, signal generators,
and DMMs that are totally useless because all of the UI was done through
a '86 vintage PC and a interface that never caught on.
I have a Northwest Instruments 68000 bus analyzer that has an IBM 5150
front end. I have to keep the PC working or it's useless. I don't even
know if it would work with a faster machine, but even then, I'd top out
at something with an ISA slot.
I'm equally stuck with my B&C Microsystems UP600A device programmer... It
does _not_ work with even a 25MHz '386. I'm sure there's a dumb timing loop
somewhere. I have theorized that it might work on a board that has a turbo
switch (with the switch set to non-turbo mode), and the bus turned down as
slow as the BIOS allows, but I've never sat down and run the necessary tests.
It's easier to keep a '286 around. It works on an 8MHz machine and that's
what matters most.
My question, though, is what's the alternative to PC-based test equipment?
Completely self-contained proprietary stuff?
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-130-S Current South Pole Weather at 10-Jul-2004 01:40 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -97.5 F (-72.0 C) Windchill -139.4 F (-95.2 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 10 kts Grid 055 Barometer 667.3 mb (11107. ft)
Ethan.Dicks(a)amanda.spole.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html