GPIB Hardware Installation Guide and Specifications
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© National Instruments
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7
ExpressCard-GPIB
Caution
Ground loops create an electric shock hazard and can cause damage to
your ExpressCard-GPIB hardware, your computer, and other system components. A
ground loop can occur when your computer and one or more connected instruments
do not share the same ground potential.
To prevent damage to your ExpressCard-GPIB hardware and other system
components, do any of the following:
•
Ensure that your system and all instruments connected to it share the same ground
potential. This eliminates the possibility of voltage differential running through
your system.
•
Use a GPIB-120B Bus Isolator/Expander to isolate GPIB systems and expand the
GPIB interface up to 28 devices.
•
Use a pair of GPIB-140A High-Speed Fiber-Optic Bus Extenders. This
transforms the GPIB signals at each end into fiber optic signals, allowing each
unit to reside at a different ground potential.
Complete the following steps to install the ExpressCard-GPIB interface:
1.
Plug the card into an available ExpressCard
™
slot on your computer.
2.
Before connecting the ExpressCard-GPIB interface to GPIB devices, ensure that the
computer and the GPIB devices are at the same ground potential.
3.
If your computer is already running, the operating system automatically detects the GPIB
interface. Otherwise, the GPIB interface is detected when you start your computer.
