09-24-2013 04:32 AM
Hi guys,
I just got my hands on a USB-5680-01 which I want to expolre using python and VISA, but this seems like a not feasable thing to do. In my python prompt when I do
import visa
inst = visa.instrument ('com15')
inst.ask ('*idn?')
I get a time out, so it seems the device does not speak SCPI commands, is thie really the case?! The open and close VISA commands works, but I am not able to communicate with the device?
Thanks,
Robert
09-24-2013 10:24 AM
The 5680 does use commands similar to SCPI, but NI doesn't document these. You are encouraged to use the NI-568x driver.
NI doesn't provide a python interface for the NI-568x driver, but the driver is a C API, and you should be able to exend python to call the related C functions:
http://docs.python.org/2/extending/extending.html
For just poking around a bit using the low-level strings directly, the following commands might be helpful:
"START\n" (this should be the first command sent)
"IDN?\n"
"PWR?\n" (returns the last computed power in dBm)
Again, NI doesn't support using these commands directly, but perhaps the above is enough to get you going until you can switch to the driver.
Hope this helps!
09-26-2013 07:54 AM
Thanks,
I tried the commands you suggested, but without success. But I would be happy to use the C-driver, only I am unable to find any information about this on the webpage. Can you please point me in the direction of any information?
Thanks,
Robert
10-21-2013 02:39 PM
Find the NI 568x 1.2.0 driver here: