Joergs ElectronicPages

"Ohm's fourth law: The electrical current always knows if there is no cable!"
(anonymous) (... for more computer-related "statements", look at this file.)

This page is a collection of a few electronics-related programs that I wrote, and of links to other web sites that have provided some useful information to me at some point in time. Maybe these can help you, too :-)

(Some of the) Things that I wrote

Solartron 7150

s7150 is a program to access and control the Solartron 7150 (and 7150-plus) Digital Multimeter using GPIB under Linux. The software allows to ...

set the DMM into any of its measuring modes (with autoranging),
specify different data acquisition rates (integration time is automagically adapted to the sampling rate),
save acquired data to file,
display the acquired data almost in real time ("stripchart recorder") using gnuplot.

I am using this software both under kernel 2.6 (linux-gpib-3.2.00) and kernel 2.4 (linux-gpib-3.1.101). The GPIB card is an old HP82335 ISA-slot card. - This software is published under the GNU Public License (GPL).

Click here to download the program. The actual version is 20090128, it now contains also code to control two 7150 simultaneously.

Note: I am frequently getting requests about the 715x series manuals. Please note that the User Manuals are freely avaliable at the BAMA server; thus I will ignore any e-mail asking about copies of the manual. - The Service Manuals must be purchased from Solartron.

HP 6633

hp6633 is a program to access control the Hewlett-Packard 6633 Power Supply (actually, the complete 6632, 6633, 6634 family is supported ;-) using GPIB under Linux. The software allows to ...

set actual voltage
set voltage limit
set current limit, use current limiter or overcurrent trip
ramp voltage up, down, or both combined
keep last settings after quitting the program
record voltage, current, and elapsed time to file
display voltage and current almost in real time ("stripchart recorder") using gnuplot.

I am currently using this software under kernel 2.4 with linux-gpib-3.1.101, but later versions should work, too. The GPIB card is an old HP82335 ISA-slot card. - This software is published under the GNU Public License (GPL).

Click here to download the program. The actual version is 20051211.

Related websites

Electronics Fundamentals, Databases

Thomas Schaerer's Elektronik-Kompendium. Very profound articles. In German.
4QD Interesting circuits. Great stuff with discrete electronics, by Richard Torrens.
Tony van Roon, Electronic Circuits for the Hobbyist.
Bill Bowden's collection of electronic circuits.
Elektronik-bastelbude, lots of "discoveries" in household stuff. In German.
elexs, an online magazine for elektronic hobbyists.
The de.sci.electronics-FAQ. Lots of good tips, and in German, obviously ;-)
Sam M. Goldwasser's's repairfaq.org.
FCC ID Search Form. The fastest way to find the manufacturer of anything that carries a FCC ID.
The Boat Anchor Manual Archive. Many manuals etc. online.
DatasheetArchive.com, established in 2003 as the most comprehensive free semiconductor datasheet source.
CadSoft, home of the EAGLE Layout Editor.

Electronics projects

Rod Elliott's audio projects.
Xoscope (or oscope) is a digital oscilloscope for Linux. On a bigger scale is Bitscope, an open design Digital Sampling Oscilloscope and Logic Analyzer.
Some simple logic analysers, using the parallel port: Nick Johnson 2006 (Linux), Kyle C. Quinnell 1996 (MS-DOS), Arian van Dorsten (MS-Windows, no source code).
Luis Padilla Visdómine on Cheap Hi-Tech.
Miscellaneous stuff: A transistor curve tracer, and a Wobbel generator.

Programming

David A. Wheeler has a webpage with many security-related issues, such as secure programming etc.
How to Report Bugs Effectively, by Simon Tatham.
MinGW, "Minimalist GNU For Windows". A collection of freely available and freely distributable Windows specific header files and import libraries combined with GNU toolsets that allow one to produce native Windows programs that do not rely on any 3rd-party DLLs. At the same site, you'll find MSYS: A Minimal SYStem to provide POSIX/Bourne configure scripts the ability to execute and create a Makefile used by make.
DJGPP, a 32-bit C/C++ development system for DOS-based systems, based on gcc.
The International Obfuscated C Code Contest. If you like coding, you'll love that one.
If you ever wanted to know where all those tech names and acronyms come from ... The Jargon File.

HTML and Internet

SelfHTML, a very comprehensive documentation about writing HTML code. Written by Stefan Münz, in German.
The WWW Consortium, with the HTML validator and a CSS validator.
Need to know your actual IP address as it appears on Internet? checkip.dyndns.org.
Query the RIPE Whois Database.
Want to find out what server software is running on a particular website? Visit netcraft.com.
First Principles of User Interface design.
Eric Meyer on PHP stylesheets. Look up the examples and the links.

Backup

The Tao Of Backup, a wise overview about a very serious subject.
Make CD-ROM Recovery mkCDrec, another tools that creates self-booting recovery CDs.

A comment to the importance of Backup was also published in the Heise Newsticker in 2002-06:

Einen nachdenklichen Akzent setzte Douglas O'Shaugnessy vom Support-Service der Firma Legato, der mit 18 Spezialisten nach dem Einsturz der Türme des World Trade Centers vor Ort arbeitete. Shaugnessy [...] berichtete von der häufig vergeblichen Suche nach Recovery-Plänen und brauchbaren Inventar-Verzeichnissen. Dies ließ die rein technische Arbeit der Datensicherer zu einer Mischung aus Puzzle und Detektivspiel werden. Mangels aussagekräftiger Kennzeichnung mussten seine Spezialisten 20.000 Bänder auf der Suche nach den neuesten Backups durchforsten und mehr als einmal einen viel früheren Versionsstand der Sicherungen einspielen, damit die Firmen wieder arbeiten konnten.

Shaugnessy präsentierte eine Übersicht, nach der die Firmen den größten Schaden hatten, deren Mitarbeiter im World Trade Center vor allem mit Laptops arbeiteten. Rund 30 Prozent der Firmendaten seien verloren, weil die Mitarbeiter ihre mobilen Rechner nur unregelmäßig im zentralen Firmen-Backup sicherten. Shaugnessys Vortrag endete mit einer dringlich klingenden Bitte: "Dokumentieren Sie Ihren Backup-Prozess. Dokumentieren Sie Ihre Recovery-Maßnahmen. Dokumentieren Sie Ihr Tape-System. Drucken Sie diese Informationen mehrfach aus und bewahren Sie diese an anderen, sicheren Orten."

Jörgs ElectronicPages