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Fancy being able to store the data from your old HP163xx analyser? Or your Spectrum Analyzer? Or pretty much any old GPIB-instrument that supports a GPIB-Based disk? Or even that Old Commodore? Sounds Cool? Then this project is for you!

Fancy being able to store the data from your old HP163xx analyser? Or your Spectrum Analyzer? Or pretty much any old GPIB-instrument that supports a GPIB-Based disk? Or even that Old Commodore? Sounds Cool? Then this project is for you! Using a PIC 18F4620, an SD-card and a few other components, this project will emulate a HP 9121 disk drive, or other drives, such as HP 9122 or the HP 9134 Winchester, selectable through #defines. The actual disk data is stored as an image file on the SD and is readable/writable by standard LIF utilities, such as HPDir from the HP 9845 project. Current status is that the emulator on the breadboard and PCB works just fine with my HP1631D and the HP 8753 VNA, but I would appreciate feedback from owners of other instruments, in case there are special cases that needs handling in the firmware.

Note that some HP units support Amigo, others CS/80, some both. Check your manuals! The current firmware supports Amigo and SS/80. Support for CS/80 is under consideration

HPDisk has been successfully tested on the following:

  • HP 1631D Logic analyser
  • HP 8753 VNA
  • HP 3852A Mainframe with the 44788 HPIB card

Note: This is not an adapter that replaces an existing, built-in floppy in a HP instrument that has one. It is an adapter that replaces an external GPIB-connected drive with an SD-card.