Agilent E3631A

[Keksbold]

Hello to everyone,   

I am relatively new to labview and trying to control my Agilent E3631A Power Supply.  

So I got myself a serial-usb-adapter and downloaded the driver from the NI website: 

http://sine.ni.com/apps/utf8/niid_web_display.download_page?p_id_guid=0475216F9FCA5335E0440003BA7CCD...

I unzipped the folder, and opened the examples, but I keep getting errors.. 

I attached the error I get when I open the basic example vi. 

It takes about 45 seconds till this error pops up, so I assume it is doing something, but in Highlight Execution mode I can't see what exactly..

Thank you very much in advance, 

Keksbold

[Keksbold]

hrmm.. sorry, I forgot the attachment...

[Taki1999]

That seems like the kind of error you get when you're trying to connect to a device that isn't recognized or is on the wrong port.

Are you sure COM 7 is the right port?

Is there any additional driver SW from Agilent that you need to install to get the device to be recognized correctly?

I've used these type of power supplies over GPIB a lot but never over USB.

[Keksbold]

Hello taki,

yes, COM7 is the right port (when I unplug it it disappear, so I am quite sure..)

You might be right about it not recognizing the device, when I go to Tools -> Instrumentation ->Find Instrument Drivers it says "no connected instruments detected"

I do not know, do you think I might need to install one of these?

http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/facet.jspx?k=E3631A&sm=g&lc=eng&cc=US

In the tutorials it is always basically just plug and play so I didn't expect that I needed to install additionnal software..

Thank you very much,

Keksbold

[Keksbold]

Update:

I have installed the E3631A Instrument Drivers but nothing has changed, I keep getting the same error..

[Dennis_Knutson]

You don't need anything from Agilent and the find instrument drivers is not supposed to work.

The very first function you need to use is the initialize. There you would configure the serial port. Does the com port appear in MAX or just device manager. It has to show in MAX and you have to be able to select the port from the VISA Resource Name drop down. You cannot just type the name of the port.

[Keksbold]

Hello Dennis,

The port appears in MAX -> Devices and Interfaces -> Serial & Parallel.  

What I did was the following:  I selected my port from the dropdown menu in the front panel and then started the VI. 

I did not type it in manually.

How do I initialize the port?

I thought that was what the initialize function at the beginning of the VI did, or did I get something wrong there? 

Or do I have to change the settings of the device itself? I just switched it on and enabled the output...

Thank you very much for helping me, 

Keksbold

[Omar_II]

I would close down LabVIEW and try using something like Hyper Terminal first. Check that you can actually talk to the power supply through your USB to Serial device. Check that the com port setting match what the power supply manual said they should be.

What Baud rate? Data Bits? Stop bit? etc.

Try sending *IDN? Followed by a carriage return and see if you get anything back.

If you can't get it talking in Hyper Terminal it is no point in trying LabVIEW.  

[Keksbold]

Hello Omar, 

I have downloaded the Hyper Terminal Trial Version, and it seems as if I am not able to connect to my power supply via USB. 

When I plug it into the serial port, I can get it connected, but not via USB.

Baud rate, data bits and so on (if you mean the ones in MAX) match the requirements of my power supply.

However, I get the very same error when I plug my power supply into the serial port of my computer and try to run the test VIs. I don't think that the problem lies there.. 

Greetings to all, 

Keksbold

[Omar_II]

---

"When I plug it into the serial port, I can get it connected, but not via USB."

Are you saying by "connected" that you are able to send and receive commands when connected to a "built in" comm port of your PC using a program like Terra Term or Hyper Terminal, but not able to send and receive commands when using a 3rd party "RS-232 to USB" converter? Then your problem is with your "RS-232 to USB" device, it's driver and how the device drivers are installed.

The settings in MAX are only the default settings if you do not explicitly set them when using LabVIEW. The settings in MAX will have NO effect when using a terminal program like Terra Term or Hyper Terminal. There are also default com port settings in the Device Manager of Windows. But don't rely on the default setting, but explicitly set them yourself in the application that you are using.

"I get the very same error when I plug my power supply into the serial port of my computer and try to run the test VIs"

Note the Termination setting!