Reading Sartorius scale via serial, error 1073807253

[Dennis_Knutson]

Well, the VISA Read will return less than 22 bytes if it sees the termination character (CR) in the return data. I have no idea if the instrument is always supposed to return 22 bytes or not. If you have a link or an electronic copy of the programming manual, that might someine trying to figure out what might be wrong.

[Loadcell]

If I use the serial communication tester vi (first changing the "online" indicator to true) then if I write anything, I get it back in the Read display.  Is the console just sending everything back to me?

[Dennis_Knutson]

Possibly. It might mean that it did not understand the command and is echoing it back.

[Loadcell]

Interesting... I just noticed that if I try sending it improper commands with the sartorius vi, it will still reply with >\1B0K.  I also noticed that if I used the Serial tester vi and sent a string of nonsense, I would get it back on the Sartorius vi. 

I don't see the proper manual online, but I will look for it.  I have a physical copy here, but it isn't too helpful.  Anything I should be looking for?

[Albert.Geven]

The first thing to look for is the way how to set your communication up in the scale.
Be perfectly sure that it is identical to the init of the software.

I remember from about half a year  ago that it took me a full hour of getting it right and to understand  what happened.
And I'm not a beginner.

Furthermore there are at least two ways of reading, one more complex and the other more basic only telling the weight.

The last one is perfect for logging and yes the machine is not very fast but that is the weighing process anyway.

I'll try to find the software I used ....

[Albert.Geven]

I found the vi and it is really simple, but please make sure your settings are correct

[Loadcell]

I tried out the vi, the only change I made was placing the initialize vi from the previously mentions Sartorius pack, so that the port settings would be correct.

The output, using the '\' Codes Display option:

 \1B[0m\1B[;r\1B[?6l\1B[?25l\1B[2J\1B[1;1H\1B[0;1;7m\sPR1713\sRel.\s03.16.05\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\1B[2;1H\1B[0;7m\s\s\s\s\s\s\sMain-Command-Level\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\s\1B[0m\1B[3;1H\1B[6;4H\1B[0;7mC\1B[0m\sConfiguration\1B[8;4

Oh Wow!  I did not realize all of that was hiding there until I copied and pasted it!  I deleted some of the "\s"s so that it would be less annoying to look at.

How did you know to use the command \1BP\r\n ?  Is this an industry standard?  Is there a list of commands I know will work with my console?

Thanks!


Message Edited by Loadcell on 11-06-2007 07:24 PM

[Albert.Geven]

I had a manual on paper but cannot find it now.
and I took a look on an old LabVIEW driver

[Loadcell]

I just realized what the string is!  I am getting the front page of the HyperTerminal interface!  When I used Hyperterminal I see the system (PR1713) date (3.16.05) and then Main Command Level with various options.  If I change the read visa to read more bytes I can recover all of the options.  This is.... interesting.  My system thinks I am using Hyperterminal, when really, I just want it to print the weight, not the Hyperterminal screen.

[Dennis_Knutson]

It is starting to sound like the instrument might be setup for something goofy like a VT100 interface. I don't think your system thinks it's using Hyperterminal. I think you see this information in Hyperterminal because you've got it set for VT100 or automatic emulation detection. See if the manual says anything about the user interface and terminal emualtion. If there is and there is no way to turn it off, then you are going to have to do quite a bit of work to get rid of all of the control codes.