[Lowfer] HP 3586b SVM and HPIB/GPIB interface

[Ed Phillips]

john hoopes wrote:
> 
> Paul,
> 
> You're idea is very feasible. You will need to obtain the programming manual
> or diskette for the 3568 which defines the SCPI commands. Agilent can
> probably help you out if no one on the list can. Go to their web site and
> click on customer support. With the SCPI commands available, it will be a
> simple matter of using a BASIC (visual basic being the best) program to
> control the receiver. I can probably help you there since that is what I do
> for a living. I have some extra IEEE 488 interface cables available if you
> need one.
> 
> 73
> John

John:

	You mention "using a BASIC (visual basic being the best) program". 
I've seen many references to using VBASIC instead of BASIC, with which
I'm quite familiar as I've been using it for almost 40 years.  I have
several VBASIC manuals including one from Microsoft, but for the life of
me I can't figure out how to use it to write the necessary code to
perform complex calcuations.  I have a lot of useful BASIC programs for
calculating inductance, capacitance, mutual inductance, resonant
frequencies, etc. which run great on a Mac.  I've converted them all to
to run on a PC using DOS forms of BASIC but their usefulness is limited
because of the limitations of that language plus the lousy display which
it produces.  VBASIC may the perfect solution to this problem but I'm
too ignorant (I would like to think not too stupid) to use it.  Is it
possible to embed long BASIC code into VBASIC, or am I laboring under a
misapprehension?  Can you suggest any useful references?

Thanks,

Ed