AnalysIR's GPIBtap Simplifies GPIB, HP-IB, IEEE-488 Analysis and Debugging
Breakout available with up to four ports, and could help with fault-finding on "some older non-GPIB devices too" — including Commodore gear.
Irish electronics specialist AnalysIR has launched a tool designed to make debugging of General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB), also known as Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus (HP-IB) and IEEE-488, connections a little more straightforward: the GPIBtap pass-through breakout board.
"We have been developing a fully compatible Arduino GPIB USB device and found connecting to a Logic analyzer very difficult and somewhat cumbersome," the company explains of the project's origins. "So we designed this board which greatly improved our workflow for analysis, troubleshooting, and debugging."
The resulting board — which can be configured with single or dual connectors and stacked for a total of four connectors — is designed for traffic monitoring and troubleshooting with a logic analyzer or microcontroller. A dual-tap configuration allows for pass-through to other devices, and silkscreen labelling provides easy reference on the headers.
While primarily aimed at GPIB devices, AnalysIR suggests it may have a broader role in debugging "some older non-GPIB devices" too — including Commodore hardware, printers, disk drives, and more.
"[GPIBtap] works well with Saleae and Sigrok based logic analyzers and many more," AnalysIR notes. "To capture the full GPIB bus requires 16 inputs plus one GND (16 channel). Of course, you can still capture eight GPIB signal or eight data lines with an eight-channel logic analyzer."
The GPIBtap is available as a solder-it-yourself kit, requiring "less than 30 minutes" to assemble, on the AnalysIR Tindie store, starting at $20 for a single-connector version with no headers included.
