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I recently purchased a microscope camera which came with the camera body (an Olympus DP71) and this cable connector:
I need a PCI card that fits it, but I have no idea what kind of connecter this is!
can anyone help? thanks.
user1837608
Posted 2013-07-02T01:21:37.713
Reputation: 125
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Well, first you contact the people who sold you the Olympus DP71 microscope digital camera and ask them where your missing PCI camera interface card is.
Next bet is to get onto eBay and start looking for it there.
Elsewise you contact Olympus and find out if this proprietary interface card is still available for the model microscope camera you have.
For further research: Absolutely no recommendations as to whether the Olympus software or camera will interface to this card and make it a useful application. Adaptec SCSI Card 29320LPE for SCSI Ultra320 has an external 68-pin VHDCI connector this would plug into. Also, there's the Adaptec 39160 SCSI Card for SCSI Ultra160. Whether either will interface and actually work is the research you will have to do. See if there are any digital microscope enthusiasts groups who are into salvaging equipment like this.
Fiasco Labs
Posted 2013-07-02T01:21:37.713
Reputation: 6 368
Yup. I found TFM with a quick google search and it mentions a half height card of some sort
– Journeyman Geek – 2013-07-02T02:10:56.097Driver downloads, hope the link doesn't go stale. http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/service-and-support/downloads/
– Fiasco Labs – 2013-07-02T02:27:21.993yeah, OP has a LOT of research to do. Link rot is precisely why I didn't post an answer, and I posted a google link – Journeyman Geek – 2013-07-02T02:29:43.943
Wow, those are all very good ideas. In fact, I have been trying to get a replacement card from Olympus - but they are notoriously slow when offering OEM parts for older model cameras. They prefer you buy their newest model. If I can't get anywhere on that front, I might try one of your SCSI card suggestions and give it a go! I appreciate the insight. – user1837608 – 2013-07-02T09:59:23.130
One other idea, can I use a converter/adapter to switch this VHDCI connection to something more common? – user1837608 – 2013-07-02T10:13:36.307
That I couldn't really tell you. The VHDCI is used for Ultra 2, Ultra 160 and Ultra 320 SCSI. You have to determine exactly what SCSI spec is being used by Olympus. If you can find a USB to SCSI-? converter, then you have to find a driver that will function to pull the data off the camera. It's why I recommended seeing if there are digital microscope enthusiasts who have this information. – Fiasco Labs – 2013-07-02T14:41:48.160
Thanks Fiasco. I confirmed from Olympus that the PCI card is proprietary (at least that is what they tell me) and was designed specifically to interface with the hardware in the DP71 camera. I'll just have to keep an eye out for a spare card! – user1837608 – 2013-07-03T02:00:35.963
Been there, done that, still have the smart card reader and smart cards. Everyone else used flash drives, SD cards or stuck USB in it. Olympus is good stuff if you've got all the pieces. Hope something turns up for you as that will be a really neat system to have up and running. – Fiasco Labs – 2013-07-03T03:11:35.350
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That is a 68PIN SCSI Connector, it will be number 6 or number 11 i believe.
However, the there is a trigger port on the card that is used to connect with a Y cable. I am guessing that this means that if you want to use the computer to capture the images, then not only do you need the SCSI connector, but also this trigger cable connected. Here is a link to the owner's manual.
http://www.samkyung21.com/file/notice/pdsdown.asp?pseq=525&filenm=DP71.pdf&filegu=&tbl=board50
kobaltz
Posted 2013-07-02T01:21:37.713
Reputation: 14 361
1If you're wondering, i did zoom in and count the number of connections on the cable. sigh – kobaltz – 2013-07-02T02:16:21.943
Heh, guilty as well. The major key is the software that drives this card, so any custom programming on the card firmware will negate any aftermarket SCSI-II adapter or whatever this cable is if I know my Olympus. – Fiasco Labs – 2013-07-02T02:19:23.870
Quote: "Certain Japanese digital camera manufacturers wanted to put SCSI into their equipment, but conventional connectors would have been too large. Like IBM, they used a miniaturized Centronics connector, but this one had 50 pins, and was called the "HPCN50"." Another in somewhat common use is the VHDCI (Very High Density Cable Interconnect) connector, also known as an "AMP HPCN68M" (a manufacturer part number), and sometimes as "SCSI-5". There are 68 pins on the connector in two rows." – Fiasco Labs – 2013-07-02T02:33:22.003
Thanks a million. Looks like this is a less common connector for parallel cables. Most of the recent olympus cameras come with USB2 or firewire, but the optics on this one are superb, so it is worth trying to get it to work for me. I'll report back if I manage to work it out. – user1837608 – 2013-07-02T10:00:52.700
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Looks like you got yourself a parallel cable there.
Scandalist
Posted 2013-07-02T01:21:37.713
Reputation: 2 767
1More specifically, it looks like an oldschool centronics connector – Journeyman Geek – 2013-07-02T02:08:07.000
The underlying cable probably is a Parallel. But that certainly seems to be a custom connector for it (although it has been a while since I've actually seen a parallel cable). – Dracs – 2013-07-02T02:08:07.027
scsi-5 or vhdci – Fiasco Labs – 2013-07-02T02:43:08.523
Any followup? Have you found a compatible board? – Pedro77 – 2014-06-30T12:50:20.947
What does it go to? – Austin T French – 2013-07-02T01:53:27.590