Parallel-USB cable adapter?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Terry Pinnell
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Terry Pinnell

For my electronics hobby I use a 'PC Oscilloscope'. So on my old PC in
the shed/workshop I have an 'ADC-200/50'. As you see here
http://www.picotech.com/high-speed-oscilloscopes.html
it's an older product, and so has a parallel port connector.

That PC (W98) is becoming very unreliable and so I've decided to
replace it with a laptop. But of course that will not have a suitable
socket. I phoned Pico Technology today and was horrified to be quoted
£59 UKP ($107 USD) for an adapter.

So my question is: are such cables 'standard', in the sense that I
could try getting one cheaper elsewhere? Or is it likely to be
proprietary, i.e. specifically designed for Pico's product?

Any advice would be much appreciated please.
 
Terry Pinnell said:
For my electronics hobby I use a 'PC Oscilloscope'. So on my old PC in
the shed/workshop I have an 'ADC-200/50'. As you see here
http://www.picotech.com/high-speed-oscilloscopes.html
it's an older product, and so has a parallel port connector.

That PC (W98) is becoming very unreliable and so I've decided to
replace it with a laptop. But of course that will not have a suitable
socket. I phoned Pico Technology today and was horrified to be quoted
£59 UKP ($107 USD) for an adapter.

So my question is: are such cables 'standard', in the sense that I
could try getting one cheaper elsewhere? Or is it likely to be
proprietary, i.e. specifically designed for Pico's product?

Any advice would be much appreciated please.
Click to expand...

Parallel USB converter £20 from Maplin others may be cheaper.

MJP
 
Terry Pinnell said:
For my electronics hobby I use a 'PC Oscilloscope'. So on my old PC in
the shed/workshop I have an 'ADC-200/50'. As you see here
http://www.picotech.com/high-speed-oscilloscopes.html
it's an older product, and so has a parallel port connector.

That PC (W98) is becoming very unreliable and so I've decided to
replace it with a laptop. But of course that will not have a suitable
socket. I phoned Pico Technology today and was horrified to be quoted
£59 UKP ($107 USD) for an adapter.

So my question is: are such cables 'standard', in the sense that I
could try getting one cheaper elsewhere? Or is it likely to be
proprietary, i.e. specifically designed for Pico's product?

Any advice would be much appreciated please.
Click to expand...

There are five models listed here, from $9 to $20 USD.
They are all USB 1.1, which is 12Mbit/sec or 1.5MB/sec.
The USB link will run at a rate somewhat less than that once
overhead is taken into account.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tegory=&description=usb+1284&srchInDesc=cable

Another form factor might be a PCMCIA card with a parallel
port on it. The advantage may be the data rate possible.
Try researching the USB-IEEE1284 adapters, and see if they
are capable of running at the speed you need (try Google).
Also, parallel ports have different modes, and in your case
I would expect the interface is bidirectional.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815104253
http://www.koutech.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=213
http://www.koutech.com/images/CBP220_Content.gif

Paul
 
There are five models listed here, from $9 to $20 USD.
They are all USB 1.1, which is 12Mbit/sec or 1.5MB/sec.
The USB link will run at a rate somewhat less than that once
overhead is taken into account.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tegory=&description=usb+1284&srchInDesc=cable

Another form factor might be a PCMCIA card with a parallel
port on it. The advantage may be the data rate possible.
Try researching the USB-IEEE1284 adapters, and see if they
are capable of running at the speed you need (try Google).
Also, parallel ports have different modes, and in your case
I would expect the interface is bidirectional.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815104253
http://www.koutech.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=213
http://www.koutech.com/images/CBP220_Content.gif

Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks both, appreciate the replies.

From other input, it sounds like the chances of a 'standard' adapter
working are very low. These are apparently really only for printer.

Getting the old W98 PC working reliably certainly seems the most cost
effective solution. But, apart from its current unreliability, and my
unwillingness to invest much more time on it, two other factors
favouring a laptop are

- Space; the 17" Ilyama and the largish PC tower would release some
handy room

- I'd like to play with the laptop in house and garden. (Although
this will inevitably increase hassle from my wife about spending too
long at my computer already <g>).

A guy sat down opposite me on the train and opened up his HP laptop -
which had a parallel port. He reckoned it was "a year or so old." So
I'd think seriously about an older notebook, but for the warnings I've
heard that even that might not work.
 
Rather round-about but perhaps add a USB card to your Win98 machine and
a parallel-USB adapter to your scope. If the combo works, you can then
buy a laptop with some confidence it will work (and you'll already have
the parallel-USB adapter). The USB adapter is very cheap (~$10 US).
 
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