<electronic_eel>
whitequark: about cheap gpib instruments - there are sometimes old keithley bench multimeters on ebay. for example the 195A often goes for about 70 EUR. unfortunately plus shipping, which would probably be prohibitive to russia.
<whitequark>
christ, yes
<whitequark>
that is prohibitive
<electronic_eel>
i don't know the used gear market in russia. are there old keithleys or hp available? or just soviet era stuff?
<electronic_eel>
or is there soviet era stuff with gpib? i have never researched that
<electronic_eel>
if just having temporary access to gpib gear would be ok for you - i could hook up a glasgow to a 34401a or keithley 2000 and give you ssh access
<whitequark>
wtf is HP-IL
<whitequark>
Token Ring?!
<whitequark>
okay, there's a Keithley 199 for $350
<whitequark>
not many lots
<whitequark>
so no, it looks like the used gear market for this kind of equipment is ~nonexistent
<electronic_eel>
quite expensive i'd say
<whitequark>
temporary access would probably be ok but it's more motivating if i have it on my desk
<whitequark>
(even better if it's something i can actually use in my work)
<electronic_eel>
usually gpib gear is bench gear and not that small, so just for developing gpib i wouldn't want something like that take my valuable storage space if it is not somehow useful otherwise
<whitequark>
indeed
<whitequark>
a past me ended up with an 11801C and it's just... not really useful for anything we do
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<electronic_eel>
that is a fast sampling scope?
<whitequark>
yes
<electronic_eel>
can it do eye diagrams?
<whitequark>
yes
<whitequark>
but it doesn't know about any of the modern protocols
<whitequark>
and e.g. for PCIe you need to do deemphasis before drawing an eye
<whitequark>
(not all versions, but the faster ones. Gen1 you could probably run over barbed wire)
<electronic_eel>
...and i guess the deemphasis is not implemented in the scope
<whitequark>
it isn't, and i don't think you could do it even if you tried
<whitequark>
it's older than me, and the tech was definitely cutting edge for 1992 but it's... not anymore
<whitequark>
it can do simple math on the samples, but that's it
<electronic_eel>
hmm, does the 11801C have gpib?
<electronic_eel>
the service manual i pulled up mentions it
<electronic_eel>
but maybe it was an option that is not fitted on yours?
<whitequark>
ooh
<whitequark>
i think it does actually
<whitequark>
the one problem is that the damn thing literally does not fit in my desk
<electronic_eel>
hehe
<whitequark>
really, if anyone wants it, i will be happy to send it your way
<whitequark>
... though you may need a russian visa for it, it's like... too heavy to be shipped by most normal methods
<electronic_eel>
often scopes from this era also support printing hardcopies from the screen with a gpib printer. that could be something glasgow could be really useful for
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<d1b2>
<Hardkrash> This is an option for GPIB. The NI GPIB-232CV-A. A RS-232 to GPIB adapter. not really a practical device in this day and age, but they are small.
<whitequark>
... or USB to GPIB
<whitequark>
dear gods those cost -how much-
<whitequark>
okay yeah i do see the appeal of Glasgow GPIB applet now
<miek>
another problem with a lot of the USB to GPIB adapters is the software side. many of them are only supported by linux-gpib which needs kernel modules but isn't packaged by most distros these days, so it's a pain to get running
<whitequark>
oh
<miek>
something purely in userspace is extra appealing :)
<whitequark>
sweet
<whitequark>
i might ask a friend to design an adapter some time later