On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 12:45 PM, Bob Camp <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi > > My bag full of useless adapters were indeed "class compliant" back in the > day. Not so any more under the new approach to signed drivers. > > Bob > > > On Dec 19, 2010, at 3:09 PM, Chris Albertson wrote: > >> Yes. It can if done wrong. >> >> The "correct" way to use USB is to make your USB device "class >> compliant" for some class. Then most OSes (and with recent releases >> even MS Windows) will have built-in drivers for each class of USB >> device. Never buy or design a USB device that requires the user to >> instal device drivers. >> >> The worlds has enough poorly designed USB devices that only have >> drivers for old versions of Windows. We don't need more of those >> >> Still. If I were designing a counter I'd just have to talk to a local >> bus using SPI, "2 wire", I2C or whatever and then have a secon module >> that converts "whatever" to USB, rs232, or just a pannel with nixi >> tubes and toggle switches >> >> >> On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 7:55 AM, Bob Camp <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Hi >>> >>> USB ties you into the same silly PC driver two year life silly stuff. The >>> bus has a lot of staying power, but keeping the stack up to date is a pain. >>> Even for so called "standard" parts that interface to a "common" interface >>> - neither one really turns out to be true. I have a big bucket full of >>> serial adapters that were standard parts under XP. No drivers to install, >>> just plug and play. Under the more modern stuff - no driver available. The >>> gizmos are now Christmas ornaments. >>> >>> Bob >>> >>> >>> On Dec 19, 2010, at 10:35 AM, jimlux wrote: >>> >>>> Gerhard Hoffmann wrote: >>>>> Am 19.12.2010 05:52, schrieb Bob Camp: >>>>>> The real thing you would learn about is writing code that runs an FPGA. >>>>> Yes. A good starting point would be a Xilinx SP605 kit. >>>>> It's about the $750 for a decent 5370 and includes >>>>> many points from Bobs option list. >>>>>> The other gotcha here is that the feature list can get pretty large: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> 3) USB 2.0 interface >>>>>> 4) RS-232 interface >>>>>> 5) HPIB emulation of an HP box (w/o drivers) >>>>>> 6) Ethernet interface >>>>>> 1) Web server software >>>>>> 1) Front pannel controls (W/o mechanic) >>>>>> 2) Front pannel display (VGA output) >>>>>> 3) Front interface connections (DUT's) >>>>>> 4) Rear pannel standard interfaces and controls (w/o mechanics) >>>>>> 2) Flash card storage >>>>>> 3) USB stick storage >>>>>> 4) SD card storage >>>>>> 5) Battery backed RAM storage >>>>>> 1) Some number of counter inputs ( some programmable SMA I/O) >>>>>> 2) Some number of reference inputs >>>>>> >>>>>> 1) Battery power >>>>>> 2) Auto 12 V power >>>>>> 3) AC line power >>>>> use as a PCIE card in a pc or mac >>>> >>>> >>>> I hate cards that plug into a PC. The PC bus respin cycle is much too >>>> short, and you have device drivers, etc. to worry about. At work, we use >>>> rack mounted PCs to control a bunch of test equipment. Since we're doing >>>> spacecraft stuff, the "design use life" of the rack is 2-3 years, but it >>>> will be used beyond that, and often, will get reused for the next project. >>>> >>>> I've spent way too many hours hunting for another ISA bus machine, or >>>> trying to resurrect NT4.0, because there's no device drivers for anything >>>> newer. >>>> >>>> In my book, RS232 is fine for low end, Ethernet is even better, USB looks >>>> pretty good and has some staying power. Folks implementing things on USB >>>> tend to use simple conceptual models (e.g. emulated serial port). >>>> >>>> My only gripe about USB is that it's a very master/slave sort of thing. >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] >>>> To unsubscribe, go to >>>> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >>>> and follow the instructions there. >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe, go to >>> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >>> and follow the instructions there. >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> ===== >> Chris Albertson >> Redondo Beach, California >> >> _______________________________________________ >> time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts >> and follow the instructions there. > > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. >
-- ===== Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
