HP Forums

Hi everyone,

Just acquired a nice Electronic Caliber measurement system on our Dutch on-line market place for a very reasonable price.

The system:

1. HP71B: 2CDCC HPIL:1B

2. 82162A Thermal HP-IL printer with dead battery pack (4 replacement cells under order)

3. Fowler Ultra-Cal II digital caliper

4. 2x Custom PCB's manufactured by Sandhill Scientific Inc, Littleton, Colorado, USA. in a cute housing with panel lights for the 71B keyboard, with internal dead 7.2V Nicad.

I would like to show you this system as it seems there is no information to be found online anywhere.

While a complete 71B newbie I figured out a few things by reading a few articles in this great forum.

When I power the caliper PCB with external 7.2 VDC the system seems to work, the IL loop is closed when I leave the printer out.

But of course this system is useless as intended without the companion software which was not included, I assume this software resided on magnetic cards since the 71B is equipped with a card reader.

The good new is lot's of HP-IL connectors even chassis mounted versions, PIL-Box is under construction.

All the best,
Lourens.

NoNoNo - please don’t go “for parts” until we have applied our combined wisdom, maybe this thing actually work......

Don't worry...

Thats exactly the reason for this post.. to gather more information..perhaps even the orignal software, who knows..

And even when I would use some HP-IL wiring to connect a PIL-Box, I can always bring back this system into it's original state, since I have same NOS crimp connectors in stock.

Best Regards,
Lourens.

Start with the caliper itself. Fowler no longer has the Ultra Cal II, but an updated version, Ultra Cal IV can be found here

https://www.fowlerprecision.com/Products...0-412.html

Like most high end calipers it has an RS232C interface. I assume the older model has the true +V/-V voltage swing. Examine and list the chip types if possible and maybe the H/W interface can be reverse engineered for starters.

Lucky dog!

Yes, I am going Off Topic here, because "Electronic Caliper" is in the title:

Last summer, I bought a Mitutoyo 551-227-50 (1 meter) electronic caliper at a garage/yard/tag sale for $25.
I figured, if it didn't work, it would still look awesome hanging on the wall (in the workshop - I have a wife!)
Surprise! It didn't work! The battery and compartment were green corroded.
Cleaning the compartment and replacing the battery resulted in a display that reads "E--o5".
Mitutoyo no longer makes this model and the display module is no longer available.

(So, I guess I may have to go the "object d' art" route.)

But, I'm wondering... IF the display could be "repaired" with a Raspberry Pi Zero transplant/mashup.

Does anyone here know how these things read the distance?

Thanks

(Moderator: I will not be offended if this gets moved to a different part of the fora.)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...9gtkgdAndp

(03-11-2021 04:35 PM)Ren Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, I am going Off Topic here, because "Electronic Caliper" is in the title:

Last summer, I bought a Mitutoyo 551-227-50 (1 meter) electronic caliper at a garage/yard/tag sale for $25.
I figured, if it didn't work, it would still look awesome hanging on the wall (in the workshop - I have a wife!)
Surprise! It didn't work! The battery and compartment were green corroded.
Cleaning the compartment and replacing the battery resulted in a display that reads "E--o5".
Mitutoyo no longer makes this model and the display module is no longer available.

(So, I guess I may have to go the "object d' art" route.)

But, I'm wondering... IF the display could be "repaired" with a Raspberry Pi Zero transplant/mashup.

Does anyone here know how these things read the distance?

Thanks

(Moderator: I will not be offended if this gets moved to a different part of the fora.)

Thank you KimH!

It may be way over my head to repair this thing, but it is a good start!