Leaf PC Card

[mddennis]

As a proud owner of ancient Volare and Cantare backs, I snapped up a Leaf PC Card on eBay so I could link to my PowerBook G4. With the card installed, the Cantare powers up. It seems aware of the card - at least, I get a sad beep from the back if I eject the card. The Mac recognizes the hardware in System Profiler.
But...
Under OS X 10.4.11, Leaf Capture 8.1.1 generates a communications error at connect. The personality files are in place. The installer loaded a driver for communications and I did a reboot or two. It says it overwrote the driver that Capture 11 installed - Capture 11 doesn't seem to mind and works as expected (see? I did stay on topic!).
So, where did I go wrong?
Does the PC Card require its own driver?
Do I need to run under OS9?
Do I need a fresher or older version of Capture? I have 8.1.1 thru 8.4.3.
Do I need to uninstall Capture 11?
If I get it to work with the Cantare, will it support the Volare?

[Leon]

Hi MDDennis,
On the Powerbook you will need to work on OS9.
The Leaf PC card should be automatically installed by the Mac. Make sure that you insert the PC card first and then power up the Mac. The Leaf Cardbus icon should display on the desktop.
I think that all your versions of LC should work.
You do not have to uninstall LC 11
It should work for both Cantare and Volare
Leon

[Kliton2]

Hi MDDennis,

Sorry I'm cant answer your question but I recently got a Leaf Volare mounted on a Sinarcam/P2 and I'm missing the PC Card and the 9 pin cable that goes into the power supply. I've been searching everywhere and i cant find any information. I'd really appreciate if you can show me a picture of the PC Card and the cable that connects into that card. I'm using OS9 on Mac G4.

Thanks,
Kliton

klce111@yahoo.com

[mddennis]

Here's the picture on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260649945815&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_500wt_1154
You can also use the PCI card in a tower - look here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Leaf-Systems-PCI-Taxi-PCI-TAXI-RARE-/260666430357?pt=Camera_Cables_Cords&hash=item3cb0ee1395#ht_2127wt_1139
Of course you'd need the cable that attaches the power supply, not included in this auction.
No, that's not my auction.

[Kliton2]

I finally found the card on ebay, it's called PCI Taxi 2...talk about rare!!!

Thanks,
Kliton

[NNN634304640792730716]

Another PCI-TAXI card obtained on eBay has the following ID information:
188A2L074B; 503C2L074S; PCB 1597; bar code LI700293/28 1697;
and inspectors tags: SHMUEL and CHEN. It has a huge 80-pin, SCSI-like connector.

Maybe it's the SCSI card for a MAC/DCBII ? My own DCBII hooks up to a standard SCSI
interface, so I haven't yet found the correct use for this orphan card.

I'm looking to mate it with a Leaf Volare digital back, also recently acquired on eBay.

That back has one connector for the long, heavy cable (P/N 199D20222) that hooks
up the camera to the power supply (both of which I do have) and another connector
for a cable that connects somewhere else ... unknown. The power supply has a 9-pin
connector that matches another cable (P/N 199D00900) that connects to the computer
(presumably a MAC, as the CDROM I received is marked for use with a MAC.) I also
have this serial-like cable.

Questions:
Maybe I don't need the cable for that second mystery connector on the Volare back ?
Could it be that the serial-like cable is genuinely for a serial connection to the MAC ?
Could it be that I don't even need a PCI-TAXI card for the Volare back?

I have some experience with Leaf products, as I've managed to get a DCBII and a
MicroLumina up and running, with each of which I've taken many microscope images.
I'm looking to do the same with the Volare back.

The DCBII setup has its own shutter and filter wheel, which wouldn't function with
the DCBII's cabling, so I operate the DCBII (on a Hassleblad body) manually with
a mechanical shutter and and a little do-it-yourself power supply and switch
arrangement to run the DCBII's original filter wheel. That works fine, although
I have to watch my timing while tripping the shutter, then waiting for the exposure
to finish, advancing the filter wheel, and so on for each of the three exposures.

Incidentally: I also have the Leaf Capture & Camera Personality files CD for the
Volare back, which is really fortunate. Serial numbers match !

I also received another CD intended for use with a different Volare back,
S/N 20204..., version 5.1.1, for use with a MAC. If someone is missing this
CD, I'll cheerfully reunite you with it. Just send me the last four digits of your
back's S/N.

Thanks for maintaining this forum.

George Langford

[yaya]

I'm looking to mate it with a Leaf Volare digital back, also recently acquired on eBay.

That back has one connector for the long, heavy cable (P/N 199D20222) that hooks
up the camera to the power supply (both of which I do have) and another connector
for a cable that connects somewhere else ... unknown. The power supply has a 9-pin
connector that matches another cable (P/N 199D00900) that connects to the computer
(presumably a MAC, as the CDROM I received is marked for use with a MAC.) I also
have this serial-like cable.

Questions:
Maybe I don't need the cable for that second mystery connector on the Volare back ?
Could it be that the serial-like cable is genuinely for a serial connection to the MAC ?
Could it be that I don't even need a PCI-TAXI card for the Volare back?

The 2nd (smaller) connector on the back is for communication with the filter wheel or with the Sinarcam I (depending on the configuration you are running)

When Rollei introduced the e-Shutter system we also made a Y-shape cable that was connected to the Shutter controller and the filter wheel

The larger connector is for communication with the Mac through the TAXI card and the power supply unit

Hope this helps

yair

[NNN634304640792730716]

Yair wrote:

The 2nd (smaller) connector on the back is for communication with the filter wheel or with the Sinarcam I (depending on the configuration you are running)

When Rollei introduced the e-Shutter system we also made a Y-shape cable that was connected to the Shutter controller and the filter wheel

The larger connector is for communication with the Mac through the TAXI card and the power supply unit

I have several Y-shaped cables for the DCB-II, each one nicely labelled: MAC; DCB; Power Supply. The MAC
ends are all 80-pin SCSI connectors, inferring that my 80-pin PCI-TAXI card is for adding the SCSI function to
MAC's that have the PCI bus (and perhaps not any SCSI ports ?)

Does the Leaf Capture S/W allow me to run the Volare without any connection to a filter wheel ? I ask because
I'll have no difficulty running the DCB-II's filter wheel manually and independently (as described in my earlier post)
and also because I've found it possible to take good pictures with the DCB-II and a three-color LED, one color
at a time for the three images. My shutter will be mechanical or electrical on the light-source side of the
microscope. That also works great.

What's my 9-pin cable for ? The power supply marks it for connection between the power supply and the
computer. Does the Leaf Capture S/W control communications through that 9-pin cable ?

Thanks for your ultra-quick reply.

George Langford

[NNN634276228286097623]

Nice to see the Volare and Cantare still in use.

Regards,
George

[NNN634304640792730716]

NNN6343 .... wrote

I've attached a photo of my setup showing color coded connections from the PS to the back and to the laptop. I hope this clarifies the setup. The live video adapter (green connection) is not necessary for the back to work.

The other side of the back has connections for the remote trigger and connection to the front of the camera.

Aha ! If I understand correctly, you have a serial cable with a male DB9 connector at one end and a USB connector on the other end, running between the USB port on your laptop and the female DB9 connector on the power supply. That would imply that the Leaf Capture S/W in the laptop handles the serial connection OK. Is your laptop a MAC or a PC ? What version of Leaf Capture are you using ?

I am heartened to believe that I won't need to scare up a PCI-TAXI-2 ...

Thanks,
George Langford

[NNN634276228286097623]

Hi George,

No, the back doesn't use a USB connection. I have a Leaf PCcard which the communication cable connects to, the power supply end of the cable is indeed a DB9 connector. You will need a PCI-TAXI-II board (for desk top MAC) or an "On Location" PCcard as seen above for a laptop setup.

My laptop is a Mac with OS 9.1 running LC 7. It's only used to capture, I process the RAW .MOS files on a MacBook Pro.

Regards,
George

[NNN634304640792730716]

Hi George !

Thanks - your text & pictures make complete sense.

George Langford