Won Hung Lo GPIB cables

[karoru]

Hello EEVbloggers!

After acquiring Datron 1061A and NI GPIB ISA card to put in my old Windows 98 PC I only have one step aside to become a beginner greybeard - da cable. HP wants money that keeps me awake at night for them blessed GPIB cables and I don't really see any other serious alternative.

But, but... That bus ain't really rocket science in 21st century so I did a little query on AliExpress and apparently there are companies that sell some shady branded-ones for something like 15-20$ a piece, anyone has experiences with them? Are they any good or I should expect having to order few to find one working? Any reputable sellers?

[Stray Electron]

  WHY are you wasting your time with a bunch of Chinese made crap?  E-bay and the surplus and E-scrap places are full of GOOD quality HP-IB cables made by N.I., HP, L3 and others.  I've NEVER paid more than $5 for one.

[karoru]

I've never seen a GPIB cable in E-scrap place in Poland.

Postage from Ebay sellers in United States is usually few times the cost of cable, and European sellers with semi-reasonable prices offer the same stuff that is on AliExpress, so if they are acceptable I'd rather just get it myself.

[Stray Electron]

  International Flat Rate Shipping via the US postal Service for good size box is $37.50 and HP-IB cables located in the US are starting as low as $1.00 on E-bay.  The same seller has had at least three auctions for HP-IB cables that started at $1 each where NO ONE bid on them. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2m-HPIB-Cable-/151906320552?hash=item235e5280a8:g:xqQAAOSw7FRWYwtu There are two HP HP-IB cables located in Israel for $45 each that include free international shipping.  I found those on the first page of E-bay results but there are many more.

[karoru]

I'm sorry but it's just hard for me to justify paying $37.5 + 23% VAT or $45 for glorified printer cable;)

[free_electron]

  WHY are you wasting your time with a bunch of Chinese made crap?  E-bay and the surplus and E-scrap places are full of GOOD quality HP-IB cables made by N.I., HP, L3 and others.  I've NEVER paid more than $5 for one.

the above. bob = uncle

and don;t call gpib a glorified printer cable. printers don't go at those speeds or bus loads ...

[lukier]

Fortunately, I found few GPIB cables in the dumpster long time ago, but at some point I might need more and then I will face the same problem karoru has.

So I wondered how DIY cable would perform. Connectors like 112-024-213R001 and then, either:

a) IDC flat cable, signal, ground, signal ground, similar to ATA100 setup, maybe some metal foil shield on everything - IDC/ATA was kind of designed for high speed parallel busses but maybe not very long ones,
b) a bunch of Ethernet cables - not ideal, GPIB is not differential twisted pair, but these cables are super cheap.

What do you guys think? How much one can expect from such crude DIY attempts?

In principle it won't be necessarily cheaper, as GPIB cables on the ebay US can be had cheaply, but as karoru said shipping and VAT change the game.

[Deathwish]

I purchased 3 this month for £16-18 each on ebay uk. You want them then you have to pay dont you or  build your own. The price is the price as they say

[pascal_sweden]

and don;t call gpib a glorified printer cable. printers don't go at those speeds or bus loads ...

Hard to believe that the bandwidth is that high! I also think that it is a glorified printer cable.
And what is the difference between a premium, but old and worn HP cable, versus a brand new Chinese cable? Even the Chinese suppliers can make graded cables.

[karoru]

the above. bob = uncle

and don;t call gpib a glorified printer cable. printers don't go at those speeds or bus loads ...

I don't know about bus loads, but your usual Centronics (in ECP mode) is capable of 2 MB/s, and there were devices (for example Zip drives) that utilized it in practice.
Typical ISA GPIB card (like these from National Instruments) can handle something like 300 kB/s. The IEEE-488 standard states up to something like 1 MB/s (but I stand to be corrected on this).

So I wondered how DIY cable would perform.

There is at least one webpage left from them old times, when people were trying to do DIY on these, for example:
http://www.ko4bb.com/Test_Equipment/GPIB.php