GPIB-140A 186135G-01 Fiber GPIB Extender

You cannot use the GPIB-140A or GPIB-140A/2 bus extenders to communicate with either a GPIB-140 or GPIB-140/2 bus extender. The GPIB-140A and GPIB-140A/2 bus extenders use a different protocol to communicate with each other across the fiber optic cable. The GPIB-140A and GPIB-140A/2 are high-speed bus extenders that you can use in pairs with fiber-optic cable to connect two separate GPIB systems in a functionally transparent manner.

The GPIB-140A and GPIB-140A/2 bus extenders comply with the specifications of the ANSI/IEEE Standard 488.1-1987 and the ANSI/IEEE Standard 488.2-1992, including the Find Listeners protocol. With the GPIB extenders, you can overcome the following two configuration restrictions imposed by IEEE 488: ï A cable length limit of 20 m total per contiguous bus or 2 m per each device on the bus, whichever is smaller ï An electrical loading limit of 15 devices per contiguous bus Each GPIB-140A system extends the GPIB to a maximum distance of 1 km, and each GPIB-140A/2 system extends the GPIB to a maximum distance of 2 km. Both systems extend the loading limit to 28 devices (including the GPIB extenders), without sacrificing speed or performance. You can connect these point-to-point extension systems in series for longer distances or in star patterns for additional loading.

Using the HS488 protocol, the maximum data transfer rate over the extension is greater than 2.8 Mbytes/s. The GPIB extenders use a buffered transfer technique with a serial extension bus, which maximizes performance and minimizes the cabling cost. Furthermore, the extender does not affect the transfer rate between devices on the same side of the extension. The GPIB extender can also check for errors to make sure that the data transmitted successfully over the fiber-optic link.

Your kit includes the GPIB-140A or GPIB-140A/2 bus extender. In addition, you can order the NI-488.2, LabWindows™/CVI™, or LabVIEW software from National Instruments to speed your application development time and make it easier to communicate with your instruments. The NI-488.2 software supports the concurrent use of multiple types of GPIB hardware. For example, you can communicate with GPIB devices through a PCI-GPIB, a PCMCIA-GPIB, and a GPIB-ENET/100 in the same system at the same time. The NI-488.2 software, along with the GPIB hardware, transforms your computer into a GPIB Talker/Listener/Controller with complete communications and bus management capability.