LV SignalExpress 2015 and Keithley 2450?

[Colnago]

Sorry for the probably trivial question but I'm running out of my beginner's fantasy. 

I Installed the IVI-driver for the Keithley 2450 Source Meter unit (from the Keithley site). When trying to Insert an IVI Scope step by selecting Analog»Acquire Signals»IVI Scope from the Add Step menu as specified in the instructions I do see my instrument on the USB-port but there is no choice of driver available from the dropdown menu. The Initialize command returns an error message nor does the Channel window discover any instruments.

How can I make this instrument communicate with SignalExpress?

[LeahE]

Hi Colnago,

Sorry to hear you're having problems. Which versions of Signal Express and the driver are you using? And what is your OS? Would you be able to provide a screenshot of the error message?

The driver readme notes that "Before this driver can be installed, your computer must already have the IVI Shared Components installed. Minimal IVI Version: 2.0". Could this be the problem?

It is also worth checking that the folder 'ke2450' is present in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\IVI\Drivers

Then check that the driver is present in NI MAX by navigating on the left menu: My System > IVI drivers >Advanced>Instrument Driver software modules>ke2450 .

I'm afraid that this Keithley 2450 IVI instrument driver is not supported or maintained by National Instruments but a third party, so there is only a limited amount I can help you if the problem is at their end.

Best wishes,

Leah

[Colnago]

Hi Leah,

We run SE2015 on a Win7 PC. Driver version 1.2(2016). ke2450 is present in the IVI/Drivers/ke2450 and shows up in MAX as soon as I plug in the instrument. Attached a screenshot of the error message which shouldn't be surprising as no driver is offered in the selection menu... So it probably takes some standard one?

Hope this helps,

Robert

[LeahE]

Hi Robert,

Hmm, I see. I think I may have found a solution but it is difficult to verify without the Keithly 2450 Hardware. I changed the ke2450 IVI-C API names to IviScope in MAX (see attached screenshot), clicked save, and they now show up in the when I create a new IVI Scope session in SignalExpress.

Let me know if this helps you. Failing that, this may be a question for the Tektronix IVI drivers forum. I had a look at the Keithley2450 IVI driver documentation and there was no mention of SignalExpress so it might not be compatible currently.

Best regards,

Leah

[Colnago]

Hi Leah,

Thanks for that! I tried it out and it behaves as you show. Just the driver doesn#t seem to work with the instrument as you can see on the attached picture. Trying it with our old Labview 8.5 doesn't help as here the driver (v.1.3) is complaining that it is newer than the the software... Search ongoing:-)

Best regards,

Robert

[LeahE]

Sorry to hear it doesn't work! My last thought is to try using IVI DMM Acquire rather than Scope in SignalExpress - not sure if it is a silly suggestion as I'm not super familiar with the program but could be worth a try.

I spotted a LabVIEW 8+ driver here, if you haven't already found it.

Good luck with fixing it, I'm afraid I'm out of ideas! Maybe someone else can help?

Best regards,

Leah

[Colnago]

DMM doesn't work either. The problem is that SE doesn't have an ready interface for a source meter nor the functionality to develop one. The driver you suggested works with LV8.5 so that's what I'm working with now. Not as 'out of the box datalogging' as SE but better than nothing:-) Thanks for your help!