LabVIEW and Lock-In Amplifier SR530 Connection (GPBI or RS232)

[Agit]

Hello, friends,

I am new to LabVIEW and need help. For an experiment I have to write a LabVIEW program for using the SR530 Lock-In Amplifier. We illuminate a solar cell with a chopped-up laser beam. The reference signal comes from a chopper. The resulting current from the solar cell should go as a signal into the amplifier and then modulate with the reference signal from the chopper. The output signal is then to be received by LabVIEW. Do you already have a written sample program?

The Lock-In Amplifier SR530 has one RS232 and one GPIB interface. I read that you should use a GPIB-USB Adapter from National Instruments if you work with LabVIEW and Amplifier. Is that correct? Or is there only a driver for GPIB interface on the NI website?

I hope you can help me.

[molse008]

Hello OP, I'm doing something very similar, I'm illuminating a solar cell then using an SR830 to amplify tiny changes in photo-luminescence. 

I don not have any programs written for this (I'm not much of a coder full disclosure), but most LabVIEW device drivers come with some pre-written VIs that should either do what you want or get you on the right track.

NI's website has drivers for basically every device under the sun, here is one for SR530.

You can also go into LabVIEW itself and look under "Help" to find the driver directory. There are also youtube videos that explain how to do this.

You will probably also have to download NI-Max, VISA, and 488.2 if you haven't already.

As for GPIB vs RS232, NI makes hardware and drivers for both, a quick google search will bring you to either. I personally am having major difficulties in getting our SR830 to connect via GPIB-USB-HS (details here), but that might just be me. If you do decide to use GPIB, NI and the internet have tons of troubleshooting documentation to hopefully get you set up.

I hope this helps, from one person getting set up to another.

[Agit]

Hi molse008,

I thank you for your great help.

Regards,

Agit

[Agit]

Hi molse008,

I was hoping you could help me with that question. Both the SR530 and SR830 have only 2 inputs. The one input becomes the reference signal of the chopper. The other input will be the current from the illuminated solar cell/solar module. But to drain the current from the cell, 2 outputs will follow (anode and cathode). But I have only 1 input on the Lock-In Amplifier, because the other input is reserved for the reference signal from the chopper. How did you solve this problem? Did you connect the anode and cathode to a BNC cable?

Another question: The inputs of the amplifier are for BNC cables or am i wrong?

Great regards