Interfacing the fluke 45 dual display multimeter to computer using rs232 cable

[justin_acbel]

Dear Engineers/Technical Support of NI,

I'm Justin, Test Engineer of Acbel Polytech Phils would like to ask how I can interface the fluke 45 dual display multimeter with my computer using serial port/cables (rs232 interfacing). We have this old model of GPIB devices but my problem is we dont have computer with old ISA slot on it, so instead, I will be using the rs232 interface support of fluke 45 to connect to my computer, and also do i need drivers for this, please give me feedback the soonest, thank you.

Justin F. Pineda

Test Engineer

Test Ebgineering Department

ACBEL Polytech Phils. Inc.

[Henrik_Volkers]

What you need:

LabVIEW installed 😉

VISA Driver installed (normally done with the standard installation of LV)

Fluke 45 LV driver , maybe already on your LV-instrument driver CD or right here at ni.com http://sine.ni.com/apps/utf8/niid_web_display.download_page?p_id_guid=04711B9FBF9238CCE0440003BA7CCD...

The right RS232 cable (had problems in the past with fluke hydra loggers)

Matching serial settings (baudrate, parity, protocol, ...) 

Additional helpfull:

Fluke Manual for individual controlling.

Message Edited by Henrik Volkers on 01-11-2007 09:41 AM

[justin_acbel]

sir do i need a third party hardware such as interface card to establish communication between my fluke 45 and my computer or simply i will be using a serial-to-parallel cable. thanks for the previous info sir.



justin_acbel

[Dennis_Knutson]

There is a big difference between serial and parallel cables. You need a serial cable with the correct 'DB' connector on both ends. Serial ports are usually either 9 or 25 pin DB type (DB9/DB25) connectors and can be either male or female type. You also need a cable that is wired correctly. Cables are either wired straight through (pin 1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc.) or a 'null modem' type. Null modem cables are cross wired so that at the very least, the td signal on one end is wired to the rd signal at the other. Your instrument manual should tell you the type of cable you need.

If your computer has an existing serial port, then you can buy a simple cable. If it's a new computer without any serial port, then you could but a USB->RS232 converter or a pci card with an RS-232 port.

[justin_acbel]

Hi Henrik,

Does it mean that i will not be needing any third party hardware for the interfacing of my fluke 45 and my computer if my computer has a serial port onboard attached? what I need only are the following: LabVIEW installed, VISA Driver installed, Fluke 45 LV driver, RS232 cable, Matching serial settings (baudrate, parity, protocol, ...)

[justin_acbel]

Sir Henrik, do you have instruction on how I can setup the interfacing of my fluke 45 and my computer, I have no idea how will be it look like, do you have diagrams or drawing, or any documents on how I can setup this project. Thanks



Justin_acbel

[Dennis_Knutson]

If you don't have the manual, you can download it from here.