[Premium-Rx] Remote control WJ-8718A

[Raymond Boute]

Dear premium-Rx enthusiasts,

I am in the process of designing software control for various vintage 
receivers.  The distinctive feature is analog feedback to the user 
via a dial-like image on the screen, which turns out very convenient 
for tuning.  In a few weeks, I expect to have enough results 
worthwhile to share with other people of this group.

With the WJ-8718A I ran into a snag: the manuals are very cryptic 
about the control format.  For the GPIB interface, they give an 
example based on an old HP calculator to control the Rx rather than a 
real specification.  Can anyone provide more insight into 
this?  Typical issues are:
    (a) Does the Prologix USB/GPIB converter really provide all the 
handshaking, to the extent that to the program it looks like a basic 
serial interface?  For the Racal RA1792 this turns out to be the 
case, and "contact" with the Rx was established at the first attempt 
(BTW, I am using LabVIEW).  Not so with the WJ-8718A.
    (b) How should the data be "packaged" into words to correctly 
address the receiver and ensure that the parameters really get into 
the registers?
    Also, the listener/talker explanations in the manuals are 
ambiguous, and there are so many possibilities that experimenting 
feels like throwing darts in the dark.

Best regards,

Raymond