HP card for instrument control by PCs
Hewlett-Packard (NZ), Ltd, has introduced the HP-IB Command Library, providing instrument control capability for the HP Vectra PC, IBM PC/XT/ AT, and PC compatibles.
The HP 82990 A HP-IB Interface Card/Command Library and HP 82990 E Command Library (software only) provide support for HP-IB (lEEE--488) and GPIB instruments as well as printers and plotters.
“There has been a strong influx of MS-DOS based personal computers into the instrument-con-trol market in the last few
years,” said Mr Don Sykes, marketing manager for Hewlett-Packard (NZ) Ltd. “HP is known for its expertise in instruments and instrument control so it was relatively easy to provide this capability to the PCs.” The HP-IB ’ Command Library includes commands in BASIC, Pascal, or C programs to control HP-IB instruments, and provides the capability for high-speed string transfers (DMA). Only one set of commands needs to be learned for all of the seven supported languages — HP Vectra BASIC, GW BASIC, MSPascal, MS-Compiled
BASIC, MS-Quick BASIC, Microsoft C and all models of Lattice C. Six commands allow the user to enter and output ASCII strings, real numbers and arrays of real numbers. These commands handle more than 80 per cent of the HP-IB I/O tasks in most applications. They are easy to use and do not require a detailed knowledge of the lEEE-488 standard.
In addition, 20 other commands provide access to individual control lines and bus commands. This level of control enhances the operation of the six input/output commands and provides the lowest level of instrument con-
trol, including secondary addressing. The HP-IB Command Library Is compatibe with HP PC Instruments system software for the HP PC Instruments bus (PCIB). It lets users control a combination of HPIB instruments- and PC instruments from the same BASIC program. Support of HP4B discs and take backup units can be added with the HP 88500DT HP-IB software.
These products obsolete the HP 61062AA/BA HPIB Interface Card and Command Library. An upgrade is available for those customers who . already own this previous version of the software.
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Press, 13 January 1987, Page 28
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342HP card for instrument control by PCs Press, 13 January 1987, Page 28
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