Do I need multiple GPIB cards?

[GRMAN]

I am using a Agilent Programmable Power Supply and a Programmable Multimeter, both of which use GPIB. Do i need two PCI-GPIB cards to do this?. If not how do i do it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

Just one card will suffice. Each instrument has a settable address that uniquely identifies it for communication. GPIB cables are constructed to piggyback onto one another. One cable from the card to instrument #1, and another cable between instrument #1 and #2. You should poke around this site for GPIB tutorials to help get you started.

[johnsold]

You can use multiple GPIB devices with one controller. Each device must have a different address. The cables are designed to connect from one instrument to the next.

Lynn

[Dennis_Knutson]

You do not need multiple GPIB boards though if you wanted to use multiple ones, you can and I'm sure NI would be willing to sell them to you. All that you have to do is set the GPIB address on each instrument to something unique (and not the same as the controller). Your instrument manual should explain how to set the address. Sometimes it's with a DIP switch and but usually with newer instruments, you set it from the front panel. GPIB cables are designed to be stacked. You can use a star configuration in which you connect multiple GPIB cables from the controller to each instrument. You can also use a linear configuration in which you connect one cable from the controller to the first instrument and the next cable goes from instrument 1 to instrument 2. There are limitations on how long the cables can be, maximum number of devices, etc. There are a lot of basic GPIB tutorials available if you search the NI site or the Internet.