If You Don't Have a Parallel Port...

Most laptop computers and some desktops do not provide a parallel port anymore. A common proposal is to use a USB parallel port (sometimes called a "USB-parallel adapter"). These normally only work with printers because they capture printing output within the operating system. This won't work with the Data Logger CVF2 and Analyse-Plus because they don't use the Windows print services. "Universal docking stations" usually use a USB port for the connection to the PC too.

The solutions that will work are:
1) Purchase a docking station that connects to the laptop PC's bus (not a USB port). This normally means you must purchase it from the laptop manufacturer. This, however, reduces the portability of the entire system.

2) If you have a laptop with a PCMCIA slot, the best solution is to purchase a PCMCIA card. We have purchased and tested a Transdigital Trans PC Card - Universal Parallel Port. We highly recommend this product. You may purchase the product on the Transdigital web site. Choose the TDC303 package. You may also purchase it from us if you are purchasing a Data Logger CVF2 at the same time.

3) If you have a laptop with an Express Card slot, the best solution is to purchase an Express Card. We have purchased and tested a 34 mm Quatech SPPXP-100 EPP Parallel Port Card. We highly recommend this product. You may purchase the product on the Quatech web site or from their many resellers. You may also purchase it from us if you are purchasing a Data Logger CVF2 at the same time.

4) If you have a desktop with an open PCI slot, the best solution is to purchase a PCI parallel port card. There are many suppliers and the cost is very low. You may purchase one from us if you are purchasing a Data Logger CVF2 at the same time.

When we purchased the TransDigital PCMCIA card, the sales email contained the following message:
"The Trans PC Card - Universal Parallel Port for proper operation requires Notebook with fully functional PCMCIA slot according the PCMCIA 2.1 standard with support of both voltages 3.3 and 5.0 Volt. Therefore Dell Inspiron machines which supply to the PCMCIA slot only 3.3 volts will not work properly. Standard parallel port and parallel devices operate at 5 Volts. All other brand machines are OK." In this case, you may wish to purchase the Express Card shown above if your laptop has an Express Card Slot.

Please note that we do not have any affiliation, agreements, partnerships or arrangements with Transdigital or Quatech whatsoever. We are merely recommending a product that works with our product. There may be other suitable products available but they must work with direct "port i/o" (to port 378H for example) and the 3 I/O addresses of the standard parallel port must fully comply with the parallel port standard. The product does not need to support EPP or bi-directional standards. A standard parallel port is recommended. Interrupts (IRQ) are not used by Analyse-Plus and are not required. The Quatech Express Card usually uses I/O port 3000 instead of 378.

If you have any problems using or installing these cards or if you purchased the Quatech Express Card SPPXP-100, email technical support at: support@givenscontrol.com


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