Floppy Disk Drive retrofitting: USB Floppy Emulator for KETRON SD 5 In older keyboards – e.g. in my KETRON SD 5, the input device is a floppy drive und the internal RAM memory is supplied with information by a floppy disk. I would never replace my KETRON SD 5 with a modern keyboard however; the reason is the good quality.

With the IPCAS USB floppy emulator for USB pen drives, the known disadvantages …

• Sensitive to mechanical wear and tear
• Problems with dust, oil and other adverse environmental conditions
• Malfunction due to permanent mechanical load
• Low memory capacity

… of conventional floppy disks, which anyway are hardly to buy, can be totally attributed to the past.

Most salient features:

• The old floppy disk drive is replaced 1:1. The connections are identical, so no further changes have to be made.
• The USB Stick at the USB Floppy Emulator replaces the old diskette entirely. USB memory components have long life spans and high capacities.
• The new USB floppy drives and USB memory components are practically immune to impacts from magnetic fields, dust or shock.
• The contents on 100 floppies can easily be placed on one single USB Stick. That saves a lot of time and costs!

To replace the equipment I’m proceeds as follows:

1. Opening the keyboard (screws located on the bottom)
2. Slide back the panel of the keyboard
3. Removal of the floppy disk drive (FDD)
4. Detach of the data cable from the floppy drive controller
5. Inserting a floppy controller computer cable to the floppy connector
6. Connect this cable and the power supply cable (4-pin.) to the emulator.

Now the keyboard will switch on and the floppy drive (with inserted USB flash drive) are energize and the keyboard reports: not formatted.
After that, the format command must be executed according to the display information.
Then the emulator should set to 01 (with the Up button). The UP switching and formatting and will resist until 99.

If the formatting performs, you play the songs on the respective place (00-99), then – start playing – as usual.
When the formatting is completed, copy the songs on the respective place (00-99). Afterwards, as usual, start the playback.

More information on the ipcas UBS Floppy Emulator solutions >>

The USB Disk Format Tool is now available for download in the support area and on the product page.

Supported operating systems: Windows 2000/XP (x86)

Using the USB Disk Format Tool and the USB Disk Index Selector together (for example in a batch script), a variety of actions can be automated.

• automated formatting
• automated switching
• automated selection

Note:
Of course, the USB Floppy-Emulator works completely operating system independent when using only one disk image per USB flash drive.

If you are only looking for a comfortable USB-Flash-Drive disk images format tool, you can use the "USB floppy format tool for Windows" (also available in the support area).

Equipped with 6 digital ports (24 V DC) and 6 thermistor inputs (for DS18S20) via one-wire bus, it can be used to record any
kind of input values. Bit patterns, counted measurands, and events are relayed directly via USB interfaces to a server where they
can be visualized, evaluated and processed.

The voltage supply for the USB Input Device is provided via USB. Sensors, thermistors and clocks are attached with spring clips.
With these properties and its compact design the USB Input Device is your ideal companion also suitable for mobile deployment.
The intuitive and easily understandable configuration software allows you to adjust the settings of the various ports
(e.g., S0 interval, temperature measurements, etc.) to suit your individual requirements.

The USB input device as metering solution for on the S0 interface of kilowatt-hour-meters.

Photos: Taken at the Embedded World 2010

Further information on the USB-Input-Device product page.
Or please contact us.

No more floppy disks!

Many machines and devices are still using floppy disk drives as the only means of data input.
CNC, milling, injection mold, or embroidery machines, laser cutting devices and integrated control systems, just to mention a few,
are still being fed data with floppy disks several times a day.

Swap your legacy floppy diskette drive for the new USB floppy emulator!
From now on use reliable USB pen drives instead of vulnerable diskettes!

Good news for you:
You won’t ever need floppies anymore and yet you’ll be able to secure a guaranteed long-term future for your machines and systems.

Photos: Taken at the Embedded World 2010

Further information on the Floppy Emulator product page.
Or please contact us.

USB-equipped printers are becoming increasingly popular on the industrial market.
Now, imagine yourself in need of spare parts for your conventional log printer when the suppliers are gradually running out of stock because the item is being
phased out – and this in times of growing reporting demands.
Well, thanks to the ipcas Centronics to USB Converter there is no need to worry
anymore:
The Centronics to USB Converter easily connects to existing printer interfaces, saving you time and costs for refitting machines or interfaces.
Moreover, it is ready to run and enables you to print all kinds of log and graphics formats with a standard USB printer in black and white or color.

The ipcas Centronics – USB Converter generally allows you to connect modern USB printers to older parallel interface machines or devices to file log reports.
All you have to do then is simply replace your conventional log printer with a standard USB or network printer – without having to install time-consuming
printer drivers.

You can also easily output data on a USB Stick and change over to a paperless logging system, thus saving time, costs, and material.
Moreover, the data can be archived in a database and made readily available for further processing at a mouse-click. Alternatively,
also available with RS232 / Serial Interface.

Photos of the Centronics to USB Converter:
Photographed today at the Embedded World 2010 / Nuremberg Germany

The video shows the Centronics – USB Converter at Embedded World (ipcas exhibition stand 555 in Hall 12.0).
The laptop in the background prints log data. The converter is connected to the parallel port, instead of a printer. The Centronics – USB Converter collects the print data and prints them here in parallel to an old dot matrix printer (with Centronics interface) and a USB printer.
The log data is printed line by line on the dot matrix printer. The converter buffers the data so long until a full page of A4, and prints them out on the USB printer. That saves paper. Each log line can be tagged with a time stampstamp.

Until Thursday, you can admire the USB printer replacement in Action, at the Embedded World 2010 (Hall 12.0 Stand 555).