[Premium-Rx] better receivers.

[John P Ceresole]

Dear List

John W3JN recently wrote:

I've learned the hard way that an instrument dependent upon PC control is 
soon obsolete.  The special card (ISA, PCI, etc) that goes in the PC and 
will only talk with certain versions of Windows will render the whole 
instrument useless when it craps out, or you can't buy PCs with <insert bus 
standard here>, or you can't buy that version of Windows anymore, etc.  And 
good luck getting any assistance from the manufacturer.  They plan on 
supporting equipment for a year or two tops.  They can't even purchase 
replacement parts in many cases

I am not sure that I agree with John as many/most receivers have GP-IB - 
IEEE-488, a standard interface that has been and will be with us for many 
years to come - it has limitations and is relatively expensive - but it has 
stood the test of time and now can be accessed using USB 
converters.  Surely we should encourage manufacturers to implement such an 
interface - has the patent run out yet or is it evolving?

The receiver that I have started life with an odd 16-bit interface but it's 
manufacturer (actually the manufacturer (DEC) of the PDP-K11F)  decided 
that having a GP-IB was a good mod - and I am grateful to him 20 years on 
as I can now still get GP-IB software and even support is available + a 
huge database of knowledge on the internet.  We should be encouraging such 
behaviour - perhaps even encouraging odd interface to/from GP-IB gizmo 
using a manufactured PROM Command Translation device and using such 
controller programs as HP-VEE or LABVIEW thus assuring support and 
knowledge for years to come.   We could even (If Ian/Greg would permit us) 
put drivers/schemes/software (there might be limitations to this last) on 
the Premium Rx Website to drive our cherished Rxs in this way.

A penny for your thoughts

John G8BSD