In general, Parallel or Serial is recommended over GPIB for production environments because significant delays controlling the instruments (compared to RIFL), human errors when configuring the GPIB address (must not be duplicate) and cable length (max 20 meters, 30 feet). GPIB cables are chained together, creating situations that are very difficult to diagnose because of intermittent symptoms. Also, the calibration process requires a GPIB Power Meter to be used, if a GPIB Instrument Pod is already attached to the system, adding a second GPIB Instrument Pod will interfere with the plug and play logic and some instruments will not activate. Cassini has a limited number of drivers for GPIB instruments and GPIB Handlers/Probers.
Cassini REQUIRES ONLY 1 GPIB Instrument Pod. Although the connections are identical, the internal programming of the PODs are NOT and so they can not be substituted for each other. They may be configured in the field, but the Pod should be shipped to the factory to be converted from Instrument and Handler configurations.
Cassini systems can only have 1 Handler POD (of any type: GPIB, parallel, serial) and 1 GPIB Instrument POD attached at the same time.
 | | | Part # | Description | Price | QOH | Availablility | Applications | Modified |
 | | | RIK0263A | GPIB Handler Pod + 15' RIFL Cable | $3,056 | 1 | | Cassini to GPIB Handler (Isolated) | 02/06/2018 11:22:13 AM |
| | | RIK0264A | GPIB Instrument Pod + 15' RIFL Cable | $3,007 | OUT | 2wks(build) + | Cassini to GPIB Instrument(s), (Isolated) | 02/06/2018 11:22:13 AM |
| | | RIK0265A | GPIB Prober Pod + 15' RIFL Cable | $3,056 | OUT | 2wks(build) + | Cassini to GPIB Prober, (Isolated) | 02/06/2018 11:22:13 AM |
| | | RIK0266A | Serial Handler Pod + 15' RIFL Cable | $3,123 | OUT | 2wks(build) + | Cassini to Serial Prober, (Isolated) | 02/06/2018 11:22:13 AM |
| | | RIK0267B | Parallel Handler Pod + 15' RIFL Cable | $3,123 | OUT | 2wks(build) + | Cassini to Parallel Handler, (Isolated) | 02/06/2018 11:22:13 AM |
Calibrations
For systems with permanent GPIB instruments, NEVER connect a second GPIB Instrument Pod, attach the GPIB cable for the power meter to the existing GPIB Pod (often mounted in the AUX rack). Do not extend from the back of the instrument.
Handler Pods
Do NOT attach multiple Handler PODs to a system (of the same or different type), the system will not know which handler to use and test exec will likely fail.