This is the summary of the replies I got on my question about
the hardware and software needed to connect an Aspect 3000 parallel
port to an IBM-compatible PC for data transfer.
A big thanks to all the nice people who answered !
The board
You need a PIO-12 board from Keithley (www.keithley.com, former Metrabyte).
In Greece this costs $240 + VAT, but it could be cheaper in your country.
This is an ISA board, so you will need an old PC that has such a slot
available (486 or early Pentium systems do).
Note that this board also comes in PCI format (KPCI-PIO24),
but noone seems to have tested it.
A cheaper board also suggested is CIO-DIO 24, by Measurement Computing
Corp (
http://www.measurementcomputing.com, formerly Computer Boards Inc.),
however this board (or its PCI analogs) also have not been tested.
The cable
This can be made according to the diagram in Zolnai's paper
[JMR, 88, 511 (1990)].
Measurement Computing Corp. also sells a half-ready cable (at
the board end).
The software
Dave Vander Velde has a nice page,
http://www.msg.ku.edu/~dave/zznet.html
that includes links to the zznet software, plus instructions of
all kinds to make the connection work.
However NMRnet, written by Charles Cotrell (can be downloaded by ftp from
blochead.ccic.ohio-state.edu) transfers all kinds of files and
is considered by most people a better option once you get the board to work.
Installation information and wiring diagrams for the connecting cable
can also be downloaded from the ftp server at Ohio-state.
Charles Cotrell mentioned that NMRNET will run on a PC under
DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98 or Windows ME, but not
one running NT or Windows 2000. Indeed the people who replied
had no problems with NMRNET under Win31, 95 and 98.
Only one NMRNET user had problems switching from Win31
to Win95, but did not research the cause.
Some tips:
a. It is important that the cable is of low capacitance, and as short
as possible. Less than 10 feet if possible is suggested. Long cables
will lead to crashes during transfer.
b. Make sure the I/O address and interrupts of the board and that
of the ethernet card of the PC do not conflict. You may have to
set addresses manually on the software and/or even to alter the
BIOS setup to make both cards work. For more details on this see
instructions by Dave Vander Velde and Charles Cotrell.
c. You will need to load the aspect part of either zznet or nmrnet
to the aspect 3000. Thus you will need either a floppy disk of the software,
or a temporary kermit connection via the RS/232 port of the aspect3000
to transfer the file to it.
Finally, it was suggested that Resonance (www.resonance.co.uk)
provides an integrated solution similar to Bruker's NMRLink.
I emailed them but got no answer so far.
A glimpse of hope: some people are working on connecting a Linux box with
an Aspect-3000 at the moment. I hope we will hear from them soon.
A. Spyros
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Department of Chemistry
University of Crete
Knossos Ave.
Heraklion Crete 71409
Greece
phone: +3081393685
fax: +3081393601
email: aspyros_at_chemistry.uoc.gr
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Τμήμα Χημείας
Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης
Λεωφόρος Κνωσσού
Ηράκλειο Κρήτης, 71409
Ελλάδα.
τηλέφωνο: +3081393685
φαξ: +3081393601
ηλεκτρ. ταχ/μείο: aspyros_at_chemistry.uoc.gr
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Received on Fri Sep 28 2001 - 12:31:57 MST