Controlling 3rd party hardware

[LarsUlrich]

I am new to Labview and I am trying to control an HP3456A with labview 8.5 and am running into some problems.  I have downloaded the appropriate driver, the device appears in the functions pallette in Labview, and I am able to recieve a responce to the *IDN? query with the "Measurement and Automation" program on my desktop.

The problems I have are that 1) I have no idea how to interface with the device using labview.  I have tried wiring in a basic meter/guage to try and read the output, but it just stays at 0.  And 2) If I right click on the device in the Measurement and Automation program and click GPIB Analyzer, I get a missing GPIB+ card error.

[NIquist]

Is this why you wanted the DAQ Assistant?  It won't help you interface to a GPIB device.

It's OK that you don't know HOW to interface to the meter, as long as you know WHY you want to you can tell us and we should be able to offer help.  We need details though...

[smercurio_fc]

---

@LarsUlrich wrote:

I am new to Labview and I am trying to control an HP3456A with labview 8.5 and am running into some problems.  I have downloaded the appropriate driver, the device appears in the functions pallette in Labview, and I am able to recieve a responce to the *IDN? query with the "Measurement and Automation" program on my desktop.

---

Good. That indicates that you have a physical connection between your computer and your device and it's communicating on the GPIB bus.

---

1) I have no idea how to interface with the device using labview.  I have tried wiring in a basic meter/guage to try and read the output, but it just stays at 0. 

---

Wiring a meter/gauge to what? Which VIs are you trying to use? Which driver did you download?

---

2) If I right click on the device in the Measurement and Automation program and click GPIB Analyzer, I get a missing GPIB+ card error.

---

The GPIB Analyzer function only works with cards that have the hardware on it (that's the meaning of "+" in the name) to perform that functionality.

[LarsUlrich]

http://sine.ni.com/apps/utf8/niid_web_display.download_page?p_id_guid=E3B19B3E958B659CE034080020E748...

The driver I downloaded is the one from the NI website linked above.  There are 2 VIs that come with this driver and I have tried both, neither seem to do anything.

If I place the driver image into the block diagram and double click it, it opens the VI.  I then click run, and nothing happens.  The instrument stays in its local control mode.

[Dennis_Knutson]

That driver is old and unsupported. Did you change the GPIB address that is hardcoded on the block diagram?

[LarsUlrich]

The driver image, when placed onto the block diagram, has a measurement arrow on it.  That is what I tried wiring various meters/guages to.

[LarsUlrich]

I have not changed the hardcoded GPIB address on the block diagram, nor am I sure how to do that.

[smercurio_fc]

Well, that's a pretty pitiful driver. The device address is on the block diagram:

[Dennis_Knutson]

That makes no sense. What is a 'measurement arrow'? What is 'driver image'? Do you mean the VI's icon?

How about answering my question? Have you looked at the block diagram of HP 3456A.vi? What is the actual address of the instrument?

[smercurio_fc]

You should spend some time doing some of the LabVIEW tutorials, as it sounds like you need them...

To learn more about LabVIEW it is recommended that you go through the introduction material, tutorial(s), and other material in the NI Developer Zone's Learning Center which provides links to other materials and other tutorials. You can also take the online courses for free.