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In Reply to: RE: A question from the stone ages posted by Victor Khomenko on April 15, 2025 at 04:49:33
The short answer is there are too many unknown variables and I simply don't know. The longer gory details are below. The safe bet that produces pretty good results would involve a digital camera (or smartphone) as I have done.
Use iPhone or Android phone on a tripod in a slightly darkened room.... or a dedicated digital camera. You can buy cheap smartphone 'gripper' mounts with the tripod on Amazon. Or you can buy the 'gripper' to use on your existing tripod. I used a decent little 12 year Fuji digital camera on a tripod for the shots below. Come in close then time delay shutter release so your hand doesn't shake the camera. Transfer the picture file to your PC, then print from there. You can also make size and other image adjustments on the PC first before printing.
Sample shots below are from my old Fuji digital camera. The trace 'ghosting' is not due to the camera but the touchy triggering on the scope for the signal that was not 100% periodic.... a little jittery.
Transient voltage 'droop' on a linear power supply:
Transient voltage 'droop' on a 12v SLA battery:
1) I have no experience with printing from IEEE-488 HPIB/GPIB to an IEEE-1284 parallel port device directly but I have used the HPIB/GPIB bus supporting multiple instruments and a controller (PC). In that regard I was able to capture data to the PC from the instruments then print from the PC..... But I have never printed directly from a HPIB/GPIB instrument to a printer.... but I'm not saying it can't be done.
The Physical challenge:
2) The IEEE-488 HPIB/GPIB parallel interface and connector are not the same as the original antique 36-pin Centronics printer connector or the vintage IEEE-1284 enhanced interface with 25-pin DB25F style parallel port connector that came out almost a decade later. I think IBM decided on the DB25F style because the wider Centronics connector didn't fit the width of a PC card slot.
I believe there are optional modules for your scope including HPIB/GPIB Interface module, RS-232 Serial Interface module, and Parallel Interface module (with DB25F connector). I -assume- that you are saying your scope has the latter module.
Other challenges
3) Early PC's supported parallel printers in BIOS and with drivers and the PRINT command or a redirect (DIR > LPT1, for example). Early PCs didn't support graphics. Early printers didn't support graphics. Some supported only ASCII characters. What will your eBay printer support? And will it even work with the parallel interface on your HP scope?
I know. I didn't answer your question but brought up several concerns. Try it. Or use the camera method above.
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