sbig parallel port cameras need parallel laptop converter?

hi
any one know what usb to parallel, or rs232 to parallel or plug in parallel smart card in some laptop slots will run the st5, st6 etc... sbig parallel camears anymore?

i have tried the parallel printer port plug in cards.. spp and others and either the driver does not work on the laptops win7-to-10 or they only work with printers one way output.. not bi-directional so you can read
the ccd image.?

joe

 

i tried this card.. parallel port card pcmi by cardbus, notebook adapter. from china i bet.. the drivers on the mini cd would not install on win7 or above nor work. the china company says it needed driver CH38xDRV but you cant find that driver on there web site.

any one else try a laptop pcmi parallel for any of the sbig parallel cameras

 

Yes, your computer must be a 32 bit version.

 

I've got a similar problem and really want to resurrect some old hardware (for the crazy big 24u pixels and deep wells for less than the price of a small car), I'm prepared to go exhume and old windows machine, but need to know if I can download older versions of MaximDl from somewhere.

 

Thanks Doug! Okay then worth a shot! In this specific case though the offender is an Apogee, the option for parallel has been removed since V5 from what I can see. It's a shame that good gear needs to get thrown on the scrap heap, breaks my heart.

 

Yes, its not much younger than my kids! It's the AP6EP. I've found an old Windows XP box to run it on, I assume i might be able to get it working on Windows 7, i THINK they still supported LPT devices back then.

Thanks for taking the time Doug, with the slow death of KAF sensors I suspect in 10 years time I won't be the only one trying to resurrect and support old hardware and software combos. Such a shame...

 

I'm not giving up that easy - I've found an older computer with a parallel port - now to find the software to run it. Stubborn I am! The question is how to get an older copy of MaximDL to actually something done with it!

 

Thanks Doug - the computer arrived!
I've been trying valiantly to get it going under Linux using the RandomFactory drivers as I can't find the MaximDL media that I guess would have come with the camera back in the day.
Tow questions;
1. where would I find old MaximDL media that will work with Windows XP or will V6 work?
2. Do I need to buy a license and if so what sort?
My main goal at the moment is to determine if the poor old girl will even fire up and catch photons - assuming it does we'll press her back into service! I'm kind of excited for the project, kinda thinking I've lost my mind...

 

I thought I'd misread that earlier! wow! 32bit?

 

Thanks Doug - I'm on 32-bit - let me see whether I can get this working with DL6 - I'll need to dig up another key!

If only I could find older media