Cheapest GPIB device

[SeoulBigChris]

I’m doing some GPIB programming after not touching that interface for some 30 years. I currently have a Keithley 195A bench multimeter, and am relearning all I’ve forgotten.

So the 195A uses the “old style” IEEE 488.2 standard. I think it would be helpful for my reeducation to own an instrument with the more modern SCPI flavor of GPIB. It would be nice if the instrument was useful in the lab, too. But as the title says, I’m after something used and inexpensive.

My off-the-cuff hypothesis when I purchased the used Keithley 195A earlier the year was that perfectly functional test gear can be had for bargain prices if you don’t mind the 1980s look.

Can the same be said for slightly newer SCPI-equipped lab gear? Considering only remote-control-less equipment I’m missing from my lab, I’d be thrilled to get a SCPI power supply, function / pulse generator or pulse counter. But for the main goal, anything would do, even a sheep fart counter, as long as it had an SCPI interface.

BTW, in hindsight it seems I was lucky to have found a 195A with the AC volts/amps option. Despite this thing looking like a piece of gear from the lab at my first employer back in 1985, it works like a champ.

[theHWcave]

The OWON XDM1041 bench meter has SCPI but on RS232 (or a USB interface which is really an RS-232 to USB converter, so still showing as a COMx or ttyUSBx). It is very inexpensive and as a multimeter has some user interface quirks but the hardware is ok and it uses the same chipset as Dave's 121GW, so on SCPI its actually not half-bad.  There is thread on the XDM1041 on the EEVBlog... and I have put a view videos on it on YouTube in my channel

[SeoulBigChris]

Well just one day after posting this, a colleague sent me this HP 34401A bench meter on loan for my testing. It has SCPI, plus it apparently falls into the inexpensive category of used equipment (reportedly ~ $200 eBay prices, he told me).

This generation (the 34401A, that is) of test gear might be the sweet spot where age, price, quality, and functionality combine to be a great match for the frugal hobbyist or small company on a budget.

[Hydron]

I suspect you might end up paying a bit more than $200 for a good used 34401A, but yes the command set will be a bit more modern than the old "R2D2" style used by the brown-era Keithleys!

If you just want to play with SCPI rather than specifically GPIB then there also is a lot of affordable kit which you can talk SCPI to via RS232 or USB.