IMPORTING BY PRINT CAPTURE It is easier if file extensions are visible. Click Here to Check. Hiding file extensions makes it more difficult. ANALOG AND DIGITAL ELECTRONICS, MICROCONTROLLERS, INSTRUMENTATION, HAM RADIO, WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS Updated 25 Apr '11 --> home/projects/pic-plot2/ e-mail: NEW! Visit our to know about our 10GHz activity Pic-Plot2 GPIB to USB converter Pic-plot now goes to USB! A perfect low cost solution to quickly get screen plots of your GPIB instrument on your laptop PC without complex software. It emulates the HP7470A operation on the GPIB side, and outputs the HP-GL data at the USB port to be read and stored on the PC by any capturing software. GPIB addresses and other set-and-forget parameters can be configured by a simple Setup menu, then no Dip-switches are used. Power is taken from the USB port to simplify cabling and get rid of a DC adaptor. The operation of this interface is not just limited to digital plotter emulation: any data intended to be received by a GPIB Device (addressable or listener only) can be captured from the instrument and brought out to the USB port, including raw measurement arrays or rasterized data for a graphic printer. It is based on a PIC16F628 microcontroller and an FT232R chip. PCB size is just 57x64mm. SCHEMATIC AND DETAILS The hardware of Pic-Plot2 interface is quite simple: the active components are a Microchip PIC16F628 microcontroller and an FT232 chip from FTDI. The microcontroller manages the GPIB protocol and signals, while the FT232 does the bridging between the USB and the microcontroller UART. No oscillator crystal is needed because the FT232 provides the 12 MHz clock for the microcontroller, and the 5V needed to supply the whole circuit are taken from the USB host PC. (click on picture to open in new window) The microcontroller does all the necessary jobs to emulate GPIB Device functionality, in both Listener and Talker mode, by recognizing addressing, commands and managing the Handshake lines. Controller mode is not needed for the intended functionality, and therefore is not supported. Once the device is addressed and it receives data from the Talker, the same data are forwarded from microcontroller UART to the FT232 at 38400 baud. Then the FT232 manages the USB communication to the host PC where a Virtual COM Port (VCP) has been created by installing the proper drivers. A standard A-B USB cable is needed for data and power connection. There is no power switch: the interface is ON whenever plugged to the host PC. Two LEDs (LD1-green, LD2-red) respectively indicate: - Successful bus enumeration - Data traffic (RX or TX) over USB bus A small pushbutton switch is provided to enter Setup mode. In this mode the PC is used to read/change a few set-and-forget parameters that are stored in the non-volatile memory of the microcontroller. Even if the GPIB cable can be left connected to the instrument, in Setup mode the GPIB port is not monitored by the Pic-Plot2. PrintCapture captures printer or plotter hardcopy output from your oscilloscope, logic analyzer, spectrum analyzer, or network analyzer and create an image file on. PrintCapture - PrintCapture is a reliable program that will allow you to capture the printer or plotter hardcopy output from your logic analyzer, oscilloscope. Verify communication with instrument using Prologix GPIB Configurator utility Disconnect GPIB-USB Controller from instrument from Download install Prologix GPIB. Hewlett Packard Recovery Disc in title. PrintCapture Multimedia & Design - Graphic Viewers, Freeware, $0.00, 1.4 MB. ![]() Normal operation is restored at the end of Setup procedure, or unplugging-replugging the interface from the host PC. More details about Setup mode can be found in the section. Herebelow the drawing of the PCB layout and the close-up pictures of a mounted unit: The FT232R, which is the only SMT component, is mounted at the copper side of the PCB. External connections are the B-type USB female socket and the GPIB female socket. In addition, if the board will be enclosed in a box, the two pin connector in parallel with the Setup pushbutton will come handy to connect a panel mount one. PCB size is 57x64mm. F or this project we can supply mounted and tested units: check for prices and drop an to us. A quick reference manual in Italian and in English is available in the. SOFTWARE Once a Virtual COM Port is created at the USB host PC port, the Pic-plot2 will communicate through it. Similarly to its RS232 predecessor, the data it sends can be either: • captured using a communication software like Hyper-Terminal (38400baud, 8 bit, no parity, no flow control). Data files should be saved with the appropriate extension (.plt in the case of HPGL data or.txt in case of raw ASCII measurement data) and then post-processed with any software of your choice. • Captured, processed and stored using a specific SW that manages the data type sent over the GPIB bus. A very good example for screen-dump HPGL plots is the 7470.exe freeware application from John Miles: it perfectly manages device-initiated plots, displays them on the PC screen, and converts/saves plot images in most useful formats (including.gif and.pcx). For example, the.gif picture shown here is an HP8753A screenshot taken with Pic-Plot and the 7470.exe. More details about this software can be found in John Miles'. Apart of USB connectivity and the higher data rate, the Pic-plot2 maintains the same functionality of the previous RS232 version, therefore all considerations about capturing software and GPIB instruments remain valid. ![]() ![]() ![]() Plot example of 8753A VNA Plot example of 8757 SNA Plot example of 370A Curve Tracer Plot example of TDS754C Oscilloscope Plot example of 8560E Spectrum Analyzer There are also good commercial solutions that can be found online, like Plottergeist and PrintCapture. We have tested PrintCapture during the 30-days trial period, mostly verifying the print-through-GPIB capabilities of some oscilloscopes using our Pic-Plot with excellent results.
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