GPIB and P-E AAnalyst300 Communication Problem

[Offidano]

I have a new NI 488.2 GPIB card installed in a computer running Windows XP and I would like it to control a Perkin-Elmer AAnalyst300 spectrometer.  The card was recommended by Perkin-Elmer and seems to be installed properly, along with the related software.

When trying to communicate with the instrument I get an error that both the GPIB and spectrometer are using address "0" (too many listeners).  I have been unable to change the spectrometer value to "1" as listed in the "Set-up Wizard".  I have tried setting the GBIP to 1, but get the same error. 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Dennis_Knutson]

What set up wizard are you talking about? There is no NI software that will change the address of an instrument. Have you read the instrument manual?

[Offidano]

Dennis,

The "Set-up Wizard" is the NI 488.2 one.  You can see a bit of it in the document I attached.

No, I have not fully read the AA Manual, however, it doesn't give much technical info.  It is chiefly an operator's guide. 

The original set-up files were on diskettes and updated software for the this model machine was recently provided on CD by the manufacturer.

Is the machine address a hardware (dipswitch?) or software setting?

Thanks for the reply.

[Dennis_Knutson]

Well, as I said, you cannot change the instrument's address with the NI software (or anyone else's software for that matter). That ability is not part of the IEEE-488.s spec.

The address could be set from the front panel or dip switches. Most modern instruments from Tek, Agilent, etc., use the front panel. Many other instruments will use a dip switch. Some instruments will also require you to actually choose GPIB communication mode with the front panel.