I am trying to drive a zup 20-10 power supply with labview 7 so as I can control it but so far I have had many problems- any advice?

[Dennis_Knutson]

You should provide some more information. Like, what are the exact problems you're seeing. Any error codes generated? What is the interface? Serial, GPIB, or something else? Can you post your code?

[gemmaf]

I am using a downloaded zup labview driver. The driver communicates with the instrument, so when I choose the run command it turns on however I am unable to control it from the computer and so it is the preset manual values that are output. The error message explains that the ID query has an error.

[Dennis_Knutson]

I can't find anything on NI's driver site that refers to a ZUP power supply so I can't look at the driver. If the driver gives you the option to not do an ID query, do you still get an error? Open the VI that does the ID query and see what the instrument is actually returning and compare it to what's expected. Does the instrument show up in MAX when you do a scan for instruments?

If you post a link to where you got the driver or post the actual driver itself, I or someone can look at it.

[gemmaf]

http://www.lambdaeurope.com/uk/mand_pages/drivers_download.htm this is the website i downloaded from and is a zup 20-10 model, the Genesys drivers do not communicate with the device

[Dennis_Knutson]

The driver is a bit "unusual" but it would seem that the ID Query error originates in a VI called nlZUP setPSAddress. You should be able to run this VI by itself and see the actual source of the error. The VI issues the :MDL? (model name I guess) command and compares the result. If the result does not match exactly what's in nlZUP chechInstrumentType.vi, then there is an error generated. Stick a probe on the output of the :MDL? command to see what is actually being read. You can also do this command in the interactive control within MAX.

You didn't answer my question about whether MAX detected the instrument and doing any of the above assumes that this has been done. You might have a notation in MAX that the *IDN? query failed but that's probably because the instrument doesn't support this standard command. If you haven't run MAX to detect the instrument, then stop everything and do that first. The VISA Resource Name that you have to provide to all of the functions in the driver is something that MAX will provide. Click on the little arrow on the right side of control to get a list of all instruments. The driver will not work until your instrument is listed.

[gemmaf]

Thanks I will try that tomorrow morning, no access to the computer now. I did try the IDN? query with MAX and it came up with an error, I will request for model name next time and will report back- thanks for help so far. There may be more questions?!

[gemmaf]

OK, so I have tried the driver again. MAX says that the port COM1 is communicating and should work. The instrument is controllable with another downloaded zup driver suggesting that either there is a problem with the downloaded zup driver configuring with labview 7 or there is a problem with the zup 20-10 configuring with labview 7. I am using labview 7, maybe it works with another version?

When opening the driver have mostly used the 'getting started' program however I have tried using the sub-programs also. I am able to communicate with the instrument, ie turn it on and off and adjust fold etc. However I can not adjust any of the current or voltage values from the driver and they remain the values pre-set manually on the allemantation. Also, the values preset on the instrument are read by the driver however they are rounded to whole numbers(eg Ouptut 0.9Amps reads 0.0Amps, 2.4Volts reads 2.0Volts)

Also tried was using the 'E/SInstrument Express' option from a new diagram function palette; again this regognised the port COM1 but when trying to read the instrument it came up with an error bfff0015.

[Henrik_Volkers]

Take a look at Chapter 5 in the ZUP Manual for the command set and use hyperterminal to check the communication.
You need to start with ":ADRXX;" (XX the address of your device), followed by ":MDL?;" should give you the ID
check the communication settings: baudrate, flow control (in my case it was HARDWARE) etc.

[Dennis_Knutson]

I think you'll have to first get the ID issue straightened out. If you look in the VIs that set something, they have a VISA property node that reads User Data. The user data is the instrument type and the VIs use that information for range checking, etc. The User Data is set in nlZUP setPSAddress.vi after nlZUP chechInstrumentType.vi verifys the instrument type. This is the VI that issues the invalid ID error. You need to stick a probe on the input to this VI to see what is actually being read with the MDL? command. The VI is expecting "Nemic-Lambda ZUP(10V-20A)" followed by a carriage return and a line feed. If your instrument is returning something else, the VI will fail and the instrument type will not be set. You should be able to issue the MDL? command in MAX or hyperterminal. If the text is correct, it's possible the instrument is not returning both a CR and LF. With some serial instruments, you can set this so you might want to look in the user manual for an option to set termination characters.