How do I extract data from the disk drive of an HP4925A?

[Dcubed]

I have an HP 4925A Spectrum analyzer with a 3 1/2 disk drive. Once I establish coonectivity to the device via HPIB, how do I extract the data from the disk using Labview?

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

Any discussion in the instrument's programming manual?

[Dennis_Knutson]

You should check the manual as it has been a long time since I've used this instrument (and may be thinking of a different model), but, if my memory is correct, there is no way to directly read from the floppy. I believe you can transfer from the display to the floppy and copy from floppy to display but not directly from floppy to GPIB. If that's the case then you would issue the command to transfer data from floppy to the display and then use the display read commands to transfer the data across the GPIB.

[Dcubed]

Thanks for the replies, but the manuals are not helpful and I can't find the coomands to do what I need. Any other more detailed suggestions out there?

[Dennis_Knutson]

Well, if the command is not in the manual, then the instrument doesn't have the capability and you can't do what you want directly. Then the indirect method I mentioned is the only way. Have you tried Agilent tech support?

[Dcubed]

Yes, The 4925A is unsupported and the person with whom I spoke could offer nothing more than perusing through the example porgrams in the manual(s).

[Dennis_Knutson]

That's too bad. I suspect that the reasoning behind the lack of this feature you want is that if you're controlling the instrument via a pc, then you use the pc's local storage. It would only be for users that are working the instrument manually that the internal floppy would be used.

There might be one other option but it would be more work than the 2 step method I mentioned. Some Agilent instruments had the ability to plot directly from floppy or waveform display. If the instrument has this command, it will send the display data out the GPIB port. The problem with this is that the data is formatted for an HP plotter and you would have to write a translator for the pen up, pen down, change pen, etc. commands.