HP 37203A HP-IB Extender Option 001 GPIB IEEE-488 Fiber Optic Coax 50kB/s

HP 37203A HP-IB Extender Option 001 GPIB IEEE-488 Fiber Optic Coax 50kB/s

The Hewlett-Packard 37203A is an HP-IB (GPIB / IEEE-488) bus extender that allows groups of instruments and controllers connected by the HP Interface Bus to be separated by distances beyond what standard direct HP-IB cabling permits. With Option 001, extension is achieved over either coaxial cable or dual fiber optic cable, with a maximum HP-IB data-byte transfer rate of 50 kbyte/s. Units are configured as Master or Slave via a rear-panel selector switch, and the serial data rate is adjustable (Normal, 1/4, or 1/16) to match cable length and signal integrity requirements.

Specifications & What's Included

• Model: HP / Hewlett-Packard 37203A
• Option: 001 (fiber optic extension capability)
• Interface: HP-IB (GPIB / IEEE-488) — 24-pin connector, rear panel
• Extension medium: coaxial cable (BNC) or dual fiber optic cable
• Max HP-IB data-byte transfer rate: 50 kbyte/s
• Serial data rate selector: Normal, 1/4, 1/16
• Optical Fibre ports: Transmit and Receive (SMA-style, rear panel)
• Coax connector: BNC (rear panel, COAX port)
• Master/Slave configuration: rear-panel selector switch
• Power: 100/120V AC @ T250mA 250V fuse; 220/240V AC @ T125mA 250V fuse; 48–66 Hz, 25VA
• AC inlet: IEC with fuse pull, rear panel
• Front panel indicators: LINE (power on/off), DATA LOSS, DATA ERRORS LEDs
• Front panel control: LINE rocker switch (ON / OFF)
• Form factor: benchtop / desktop enclosure
• Country of manufacture: United Kingdom (Hewlett-Packard Ltd.)
• Unit only — no fiber optic cables or accessories included

Applications

The HP-IB (also known as GPIB or IEEE-488) is the instrument bus developed by Hewlett-Packard in the late 1960s and standardized as IEEE-488 in 1975. It became the dominant standard for connecting test and measurement instruments — oscilloscopes, signal generators, spectrum analyzers, multimeters, power supplies — to computers and controllers in automated test systems throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The IEEE-488 specification limits total cable length to 20 meters and individual cable runs to 2 meters per device, which constrains how far apart instruments and controllers can be placed. The HP 37203A addresses this directly: by converting the parallel HP-IB bus to a serial signal transmitted over coax or fiber optic cable, it allows instruments at one end of a lab, building, or facility to be controlled by a system at the other end — well beyond the 20-meter hard limit. Option 001 adds dual fiber optic ports, which provide galvanic isolation and immunity to electrical noise, making this extender well suited to environments with high EMI or where ground loops are a concern. Typical uses include large automated test systems, production test floors, semiconductor fab ATE setups, and any legacy GPIB-based instrument network that needs extended reach.