Problem w/ serial CTS: asserted when it shouldn't be

[kniffing]

Hey,

I have an old Klinger CC1.2 motor controller I'm trying to control with labview through a standard RS-232-C serial port. As far as I know there is no driver for it

According to the manual, the CTS signal should be asserted when a) it is first turned on, b) it finishes accepting a command, or c) it finishes executing a command.The CTS will be deasserted during command acceptance and exectution.

I'm trying to use the CTS signal to tell me when a command has finished executing, which (from the description above) is what the manual suggests I should be able to do. To do this, I'm sending commands to the motor controller via the Instrument I/O Assistant. After that I have a while loop that waits 100 ms before checking the CTS State using a Property Node. The program leaves the while loop when the CTS is asserted (when it outputs a 1). 

The problem I'm having is that the CTS doesn't always deassert itself when the motor is still moving, i.e. when a command is still being executed. I'm hoping this is just labview operator error and not some problem internal to the CC1.2.

Any suggestions?

[RavensFan]

So the CTS line is controlled by the motor controller?  I doubt this is a problem with LabVIEW.  Though without seeing the code you wrote, it is hard to tell.

Does the motor controller come with any of its own software to run it?  If so, I would see how their software behaves and look at the CTS line with one of the RS-232 devices in line that have LEDs showing the status of each of the lines.

[kniffing]

I checked the CTS pin of the serial connection. It should be +12V when asserted and -12V when deasserted. Turns out it's actually +11V when asserted and just under +8V when deasserted, so it's probably not a labview problem.

The controller also has a GPIO interface and that seems to be working correctly. Is it simple to send and receive signals via GPIO in labview?

[RavensFan]

It certainly sounds like a hardware problem.

I haven't heard of GPIO.  Perhaps you mean GPIB?

A lot of the same functions you would use for serial communications would work for GPIB.  They both use the VISA driver.  I would recommend searching the forums for question about that topic and also looking in the example finder for some examples.

[reichenbach]

From your post, it appears you have the manual for the Klinger CC1.2. Is this correct? Do you have it in PDF form? Could you send me a copy?

I have several of these that I am trying to get working. I might be able to help you with RS232 as well. I would need the manual first.

Thanks!

[reichenbach]

my email is reichenbach@artisan-scientific.com

[LV_Pro]

I would not hold your breath waiting for a reply the original poster hasn't been on this site for almost a year, and then it was only on a couple of times. Hopefully someone else may have the manual, but they may not look at this thread unless they are having serial comm issues.

[reichenbach]

i appreciate the honestly and response! i will look elsewhere.

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

$20 at Manuals Plus, you may want to verify it is for the CC 1.2:

http://www.manualsplus.com/manuals/KLINGER/CC-1

-AK2DM