How do I control the TEK TDS3052 by LABVIEW installed in a PC?

[kevinn]

I used the "crossover" cable directly connect the PC and the TEK TDS3052(with a ethernet port).What I have done is that I configured the ethernet parameters( the IP adress, the net mask etc.). And when I apply the "Ping" command in the "run" window of the windows 98, there is a correct return.So the ethernet network is well done.Now I want to use the LABVIEW to control the oscilloscope. But I don't know then.Who can tell me the detail steps which I can take next, thanks a lot.

[wha]

Hi Kevinn,

as long as I remote-control scopes, I do this typically
via GBIP(use of LabVIEW). Second possibility might be serial port. In manual of scopes you find the SCPI-commands.For a lot of scopes drivers are available. Unfortunately for new scopes like maybe
yours and the TDS7054-the one I use- you have to improvise; as organ donor I use old drivers and adapt
them for this new instrument - until now successfully.
As I know there is "e*Scope Web-based Remote Control"
available for your scope - does this work with LabVIEW?

e*Scope means you can control your
TDS3000B oscilloscope from anywhere, using the Internet and your PC. Simply connect the TDS3000B
oscilloscope to your LAN via its built-in Ethernet port,open a browser window on your PC and en
ter the
TDS3000B oscilloscope's IP address in the address window. The oscilloscope will respond, allowing you to control it from your browser. Download e*Scope
control software to your PC for a graphical interface
that displays the TDS3000B oscilloscope screen and front panel controls for easy access.
Hope this helps - if not,mail me:werner.hasche@web.de
Regards
wha

[wha]

sorry, there has to be a space betweeen mail me:
and the address: werner.hasche@web.de
wha

[nestor-sg]

Kevin,

Which version of LabVIEW do you have?

There are two ways of controlling your oscilloscope from LabVIEW, one is using the VISA functions (instrument i/o palette in LabVIEW)and another one is using an already built instrument driver, which you can download by going to zone.ni.com, and then click on "resource library" at your left... then click in "instrument drivers", and then in "downloads" and then type in the "additional keywords" box type "tds 3052" and click SEEK... you will find a link for your instrument there... you can download that instrument driver and it fully functional with LabVIEW, now... the truth is that I have always used this drivers with a GPIB interface in the computer, in this case is only going to be by TCP/IP... so you can try to adapt the addresses instead of using an instrument type address, use the TCP/IP instrument type address and give it a try to see if it works. The address type for TCP/IP is stated below.

First you need to have the latest version of NI-VISA installed, 2.5.2, which is shipped with LabVIEW 6i (version 2.5.0 and then download a patch for 2.5.2).

Our solution for controlling instruments with Ethernet ports is NI-VISA.There are two possible situations:
1) Instrument supports the VXI-11 protocol.
The VXI-11 protocol was created to control instruments over Ethernet using the GPIB style. It has nothing to do with VXI, but it was there were it got approved.
NI-VISA supports VXI-11 instruments, to the point that the only change in the instrument driver written with VISA is the identification string. Instead of using GPIB::1::INSTR, you can use TCPIP::ip address::instrument name::INSTR. (For example, with the Tek TDS 3054, the string would be: TCPIP::130.130.130.1::gpib0,1::INSTR). (Note that 'gpib0,1' has nothing to do GPIB..its just a name given to the instrument..it could have been just 'tds3054' also if the instrument vendor chose to do so).

2) Instrument DOES NOT support the VXI-11 protocol.
In this case, you can still use NI-VISA to talk to the instrument using the NI-VISA Ethernet Sockets functions. However, you would have to take care of the specifics of the protocol used for the instrument. The instrument manufacturer should provide you with the details on how to control the instrument (commands, parsing, etc.).

*** Tek's Scopes ***
Tek introduced an ethernet interface for some of their scopes. We have a TDS3054 scope from Tek that is VXI-11 compliant. Since the TDS3054 is VXI-11 compliant, we used it at NIWeek to show how you could control it using the same code written for the instrument with the GPIB interface, by just changing the identification string.

NI-VISA 2.5.2
NI-VISA 2.5.0 introduced the support for instruments with Ethernet ports. Notice that LabVIEW 6i ships with the older 2.5.0 version. The patch to upgrade it to 2.5.2 is called NiViEnet.dll and is located in the ftp site at:
ftp://ftp.natinst.com/support/visa/drivers/win32/2.5/patch/

So you can try this Kevin and see if it works for you, contact us back (www.ni.com/ask) if you need further assistance.

Good luck!...

Nestor Sanchez
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[ryan.lange@l-3com.com]

Nestor,

I am using NI-VISA 2.6 on Solaris 2.x. I am attempting to connect to 2 Tektronix TDS7154 scopes with VXI-11. I have no problem connecting to 1 scope. When I attempt to connect a 2nd scope, the 1st connected scope drops its session. It seems that Tektronix has only allowed "gpib0" ("gpib0,1" works but seems to be the same as "gpib0" and "gpib", "gpib1" does not work) as a LAN Device Name. I have tried opening a DefaultRM for each device, then using viOpen with each DefaultRM. Having a separate DefaultRM seemed to have no affect. Below is an example of my code.

/* xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is an IP address, each one is unique and on the same network */

status = viOpenDefaultRM(&defaultRM1);
if(status < VI_SUCCESS)
exit (EXIT_FAI
LURE);

status = viOpenDefaultRM(&defaultRM2);
if(status < VI_SUCCESS)
exit (EXIT_FAILURE);

status = viOpen(defaultRM1, "TCPIP::xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx::gpib0::INSTR", VI_NULL, VI_NULL, &instr1);
if(status < VI_SUCCESS)
{
/* Close Resorce Manager and exit */
}

status = viOpen(defaultRM2, "TCPIP::xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx::gpib0::INSTR", VI_NULL, VI_NULL, &instr2);
if(status < VI_SUCCESS)
{
/* Close Resorce Manager and exit */
}
/* At this point the initial connection to instr1 dies, but the new connection seems fine */

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Ryan Lange
L-3 IS

[Oleg]

Hi Kevinn,
I have some experience with Tektronix oscilloscopes.

1. You can control them via Ethernet, GPIB and RS232 ports.

2. The basic format of commands is GPIB. This means that codes for all three interfaces will be the same. You just need to select the interface (TCP/IP, RS232, GPIB) before executing of the code. All the commands are described in manual you get with scope.

3. My advise is to use NI-VISA to connect to the scope. You have to get the last version from NI site.

4. The code must include the following steps: openning of the VISA session to specified device via specified interface; writing commands to device with VISA WRITE function; reading data from your device using VISA READ function; closing of VISA session;

5. I can suggest that you may use TCP/IP functions from "Functions->Communication->TCP" palette to communicate with your device. But I think that VISA will be better and more convenient.

6. Also you may use ESCOPE code to work with your oscilloscope. This code must be included in your CD, but also You can download it from Tektronix website.
Actually your scope has something like webserver inside. ESCOPE is a simple HTML and Javasript code which works with this server. What you see is a HTML page in your browser which allows you to send some commands to your scope and receive data from it. It has friendly interface and allows you to perform some basic operations (setup channels, trigger, and read the data). If you know HTML and JavaScript you can easily modify this code for your needs. The idea is very simple: send commands (GPIB ones described above) and receive data.

7. Another advise. Try to find some example on NI web site. I'm sure that you can take examples for other models of TEK oscilloscopes cause the sets of comands are practicully the same for all of them. At least this will allow you to understand the idea. As I remember they have examples for TDS3032B. Try this if you will not find examples for your oscilloscope.


Good luck.

Oleg Chutko.

[JaysonH]

Hello Oleg,

I'm considering using the escope software you described above. What is the refresh rate on the escope.
How close is it to real-time?

Thanks,

Jayson

[notimperial]

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to control the same scope (TEK TDS3052). I can ping it in the network and I used the IP address to connect it to MAX manually, since it could not detect in automatically (no VXI-11 support?)

Whenever I try to run VISA Read function I get a timeout error xBFFF0015. Does anyone know why that may be?

Thank you

engineer in distress

[smercurio_fc]

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@notimperial wrote:

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to control the same scope (TEK TDS3052). I can ping it in the network and I used the IP address to connect it to MAX manually, since it could not detect in automatically (no VXI-11 support?)

Whenever I try to run VISA Read function I get a timeout error xBFFF0015. Does anyone know why that may be?

Thank you

engineer in distress

---

question moved to here: http://forums.ni.com/t5/Instrument-Control-GPIB-Serial/How-to-control-Tektronix-TDS3052B/m-p/1612114