Unterminated GPIB cable - cause problems?

[Jacc]

We want to be able to periodically connect an instrument to a PC in a 19" cabinet for calibration. The PC (actually, a Mac for now) is in the cabinet and is connected to a pair of GPIB extnders (for electrical isolation). The unterminated connection would be a connector on the outside of the chassis at the end of a 2m cable.

Has anyone done this and had GPIB dtat or control problems?

[Rob Cole]

I have setups like that all the time. It comes from us having only 2 spectrum analyzers. My setup is often missing a piece of equipment in the middle or on the end of the string. I have had no problems with this. All other instruments talked normally on the GPIB bus.

Rob

[Randy Solomonson]

Another alternative is to use the GPIB-ENET/100 controller. This device is limited to the maximum length of ethernet cables which is typically 100m. However, this device is a controller and may require alterations in software.

Randy Solomonson
Application Engineer
National Instruments