71B vs 75D

[Sylvain Cote]

(04-14-2021 02:19 AM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  As an HP-IL controller the 71 is both faster and more capable than the 75. When paired with the Data Acquisition ROM and a 3421A Data Acquistion/Control Unit the 71 becomes a quite capable data acquisition system.

I agree up to a point.

The HP-75 paired with the I/O ROM reduce the differences to maybe three major things in favor of the HP-71B, the Dual HP-IL option, the non-controller capability and the raw speed of the 71B IL module.
Apart from these, both can expertly control any HP-IL devices.

For sure the HP-71B Data Acquisition ROM allow you to use the unit without knowing its inner working, but still.
The 3421A data acquisition unit only has 14 commands string and with an intermediate HP-IL/HP-IB knowledge, it is fairly easy to control the unit without the ROM.
From my experience, an HP-71B with an HP-IL module or an HP-75C/D with an I/O ROM module can both easily control any HP-IL devices, including the 3421A.