IOTech "MacSCSI 488"

[gsteemso]

I will be receiving one of these SCSI-to-GPIB (IEEE-488) adapters in a few days. Only cost $20 plus postage too. Trouble is, it's over 20 years old and not even IOTech still knows anything about it, much less has any drivers for it. (Even if they did, I doubt they'd work under System 7.) Has anyone got any leads on how to program for one of these beasts? Trial and error could take weeks otherwise. Adds to the sense of achievement, I guess, but it'd be nice if anyone knows something.

 

[register]

Check the internet sources of instrumentation providers, like NationalInstruments. Usually drivers for stuff like this are included in driver collections for software like LabVIEW (which firstly was developed for the Macintosh). Do not expect an instrument connected to your computer to appear on the desktop by some magic - it will be accessible only using appropriate data acquisition software in combination with a working driver for the GPIB adapter.

Alternatively you might communicate to the instrument using a RS232 port (if available). You could use a terminal programme or HyperCard (with some extension in the stack ressources).

 

[gsteemso]

I do not have instrumentation to hook up — I have a Commodore PET and an MSD-1 single-drive floppy unit. As such, I will need custom software to access them no matter what I do, but I am grateful to you for the leads. I’ll be checking that stuff out as soon as I finish this reply.

 

[porter]

When I used the bus we stil called it HP-IB. We had a ton of HP scientific gear ( plotters, frequency analysers etc ) that we controlled using various HP computers ( HP 85 etc ) and Pets ( 8032 etc ).

 

[wally]

I saw somewhere that DEC relabeled and sold some model of IOTech SCSI to GPIB as IEZ 11. This may or may not be functionally the same as the MacSCSI unit that you want to program. But in the hope that it is the same or close, see http://www.sysworks.com.au/disk$vaxdocsep951/decw$book/d474aaa1.decw$book