Prologix USB GPIB Converter

Over the past few days I have been upgrading my Dell laptops to win 7 64 bit Pro, after I discovered they support that version of the software. All went well until I tried to install the NI488.2 software to use my PCMCIA-GPIB card. When it said it was unsupported, it was time to look for alternates to capture screenshots from my 8563E Spectrum Analyser.

Having used the KE5FX 7470 plotter simulator software for a while I noticed it supports the Prologix GPIB adaptors, both the USB and Ethernet version. I saw good reviews of the the USB version from elsewhere so I went ahead and ordered one from Prologix directly for $149.95 + shipping.

When it arrived it will be very hard to miss, being bright yellow! I installed the USB drivers from the prologix site on the laptop then the GPIB toolkit from the KE5FX website. First the GPIB configurator programme has to be run to associate the virtual comport to the adaptor. After that the 7470A simulator worked reliably as it usually does, in both computer initiated and analyser initiated plot modes. Another problem solved!

Sweep of an Icom FL30 Crystal Filter