Controlling Tektronix PS250G using GPIB (NI-488.2)

[Pondered]

I never worked with GPIB before so I don't how to use it to control devices.  I already installed and setup the GPIB but only the the cd provided.  I don't know if there is something else that I have to do in order to use it.  I want to use LV 8.0 to control the Textronix power supply. I am not sure how to communicate with the GPIB-ENET/100.  I am not sure what to put in the VISA resource name field. I pretty much need help from the very beginning.  Any help or assistance that can be given will be greatly appreciated. 

[Pondered]

When I do connect everything and enter in the address of the TX PS2520G power supply it gives me an error in the OLD Visa Open,

Error -1073807195 occurred at Old VISA Open in TKPS252XG Initialize.vi

Possible reason(s):

VISA:  (Hex 0xBFFF00A5) The interface type is valid, but the specified interface number is not configured.

[Collin M]

I'll talk you through some basic steps and see where that leads.

First, open the Measurement and Automation Explorer that was installed when you installed either the NI-488.2 or LabVIEW software. Expand the Devices and Interfaces item. You should see the GPIB-ENET/100 listed under the GPIB Interfaces item. Right-click on the GPIB-ENET/100 and select Scan for Instruments. This will cause the GPIB-ENET/100 to look for an instrument at every possible GPIB address. In right-hand window pane you should see a list of all the GPIB instruments found. Your instrument may have responded with some string that included PS250G, or there may a note that says an instrument was found at a particular address but did not respond to the *IDN? query. Either result is fine as GPIB instruments that are not IEEE 488.2 compliant are not required to respond to the *IDN? command. Can you verify you get this far?

[Pondered]

I am now using GPIB/TNT5004 (a plug-in controller/internal card) to communicate with the devices b/c the GPIB-ENET/100 was not abled to be configured.  Is the procedure for scanning for devices the same as if using the GPIB-ENET/100? 

[Dennis_Knutson]

Yes.

I'm curious though about the driver that you downloaded. The 8.0 version of the driver does not have a 'Old VISA Open'. The 7.0 and 6.0 versions do and if you want to use the driver, the 'Old VISA Open' will have to be replaced. If you just download the 8.0 driver, your life will be a bit easier. The replacement is not difficult but it's a step that you can easily avoid.

With an NI GPIB-PCI card setup and a successful scan for instruments, when you open the driver (8.0 or modified one), you can click on the right side of the VISA Resource Name control and get a list of all VISA resources on your pc. VISA resources will include com and parallel ports so you just want to select the GPIB resource that corresponds to the instrument you have connected.

[Pondered]

I set up the power supply to the PCI card and it works fine.  Thanks for all of the help.

[Pondered]

I am using GPIB/TNT5004 to communicate with my device.  Currently, I am controlling the TEK PS2520G.  Is it possible to use the GPIB/TNT5004 to controll that instrument and a HP34401A at the same time?

[Dennis_Knutson]

You can control both of them. 'At the same time' is another thing. How truly simultaneous do you need things. The GPIB interface will write to one instrument at a time usually, but there are things you can do with triggers to make simultaneous measurements.

[Pondered]

I guess what I wanted to know was can I connect both instruments at the same time to the same connector on the GPIB/TNT5004.  I can set the vi to send out information to one device, then wait a while to read information from another device.

[MJF]

GPIB is a shared bus that you can theoretically connect up to 32 devices simultaneously. I say theoretically because there are physical limitations on both bus loading and cable length before things go a bit south.

I typically have anywhere from 3 to 9 instruments connected to one bus with no problems.