Control Voltage of HP 661C DC Power Supply / 34401A Mutlimeter with LabView 8.5 conncted using GPIB

[viveknk]

Hello Everyone,

I have been reading many forums and pages regarding Instrument Control Using LabVIEW. My system is old and does not have an Internet Connection. ( Windows XP) . The image shows the softwares installed on my computer.  

Softwares i have on my computer 

I want to control HP 6611c DC power Supply and HP 34401A multimeter using LabVIEW 8.5. I have connected both these instruments to my computer using GPIB. I have problems in detecting these instruments on my system too. Kindly Guide me in steps to continue in my attempt to learn Instrument control using LabVIEW. Any help is appreciated.

[GerdW]

Hi viveknk,

LabVIEW comes with an ready-to-use HP34401 driver (I hope/guess even with LV8.5): use this one as an example to create a driver for your HP6611C…

(You might also search for 6611 in the IDNet, there is an IVI driver. I still recommend to create your own VISA-based driver…)

[viveknk]

Yes it has HP34401. can you provide me steps or links where I can find steps in doing the rest part. any tutorial or can you guide me more. It would be of great help.

[GerdW]

Hi viveknk,

you just study the existing HP34401 driver. You may even create a copy of it and adapt it to your needs for the other device…

All the information needed will be found in the programming manual of the device!

[cstorey · Accepted solution]

There are examples packed with the Hp34401a driver.  They are located..

\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2017\instr.lib\Agilent 34401\Examples\

Take a peak at those and you should get the hang of it quickly.

[Minions · Accepted solution]

The other option is to control your instruments through GPIB using SCPI (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments).  This will allow you to configure the instruments as desired.  The other case is '-1' and has no content other than simply passing through the wires.

Try sending:

*IDN?\n
or
ID?\n

[viveknk]

Hello everyone,

I am new to LabVIEW, and I am finding it difficult to write a program in LabVIEW. I wish to study the characterization of a diode using LabVIEW. I have LabVIEW 8.5 connected to instruments using PCI-GPIB. I can detect the instruments using MAX.

 Can somebody please help me with the program???. I want to remotely access HP 34401A( Multimeter) HP 6611C ( DC power Supply) using LabVIEW and plot IV curve for a diode with the help of these instruments. This is my first attempt after which I wish to do on transistors and other devices.  Can I do this program with out the help of instrument drivers??  Also can somebody provide me where I can find  SCPI commands for these instruments ???

Please any help and advice  is appreciated.

[GerdW]

Hi viveknk,

I am finding it difficult to write a program in LabVIEW.

Maybe you should take the beginner tutorials first?

They are offered in the header section of this LabVIEW board…

Can I do this program with out the help of instrument drivers??

Well, you could - but why want you?

They make your live easier…

The driver for this HP34401 already comes for free with your LabVIEW installation, you don't even need to install it afterwards!

Also can somebody provide me where I can find  SCPI commands for these instruments ???

The first place to learn about those SCPI commands is the manual of your device.

Read the f*** fine manual!

Edit: why did you create a new thread for the very same topic? Please keep things in one place!

[viveknk]

Yes, I read the manual and found the SCPI commands. I am not able to do the program using the instruments drivers, that's why I posted again. I can find examples using DAC etc but not using GPIB with this instruments drivers.

And yes I know there is instrument driver for HP 34401A , but i don't have a driver installed for HP 6611c for LV 8.5. So i was wondering if i could get help using GPIB READ and GPIB WRITE that is already in the LV to do this task.

Am sorry for posting again, I did not have a choice.

[GerdW]

Hi viveknk,

I can find examples using DAC etc but not using GPIB with this instruments drivers.

You have the HP34401 driver coming with LabVIEW as example of how to use VISA to communicate with a device. VISA also allows using the GPIB bus (as is shown in that driver)!

So i was wondering if i could get help using GPIB READ and GPIB WRITE that is already in the LV to do this task.

As said before: take the HP34401 driver as example to create functions to communicate with your other device.

The needed SCPI commands are explained in the manual of that device…

When searching for your device I found this on Keysight's website:

2 manuals to learn about the programming of your device. And there are even more to read…