Keithley 2750 interfacing with LabVIEW 8.5?

[James H]

This is my first time trying to set up the two software and hardware.  The Keithley 2750 was originally installed and taking data using ExceLink.  Now, I want to use LabVIEW instead for data acqusition.  I have already installed the LabVIEW cds.

Where do I start to set up the interface between the Keithley 2750 multimeter and LabVIEW 8.5?

[Dennis_Knutson]

Start by downloading and installing the driver and then go to the Instrument Driver Network and follow the links under 'Learn' to get an idea of what a driver is and how to use one. Also see the LabVIEW training resources.

[James H]

Hello Dennis, I think I should have also stated that I have downloaded the driver and went through the Keithley manual and LabVIEW getting starting booklet.  I have tried opening up MAX and clicking around to detect the Keithley hardware.  Although I don't think that I have set up MAX correctly, what is the indication that the two instruments are communicating or start using them for data acquisition?

[Dennis_Knutson]

The detection of an instrument in MAX would depend on what type of physical connection you have. Is it GPIB, serial, Ethernet, something else?

[James H]

I currently have a Keithley 2750 and 7708 plug-in module (channels are connected).  LabVIEW and drivers are installed.  The computer I/O port is connect to the multimeter RS-232 port (serial).

In MAX under "Serial & Parallel," I have COM1 set with ASRL1::INSTR, Baud rate 4800, Data bits 8, Parity None, Stop bits 1, Flow control Xon/Xoff.

- Valid is successful

- "This device is working properly"  under General tab.

What should I do next?

[Dennis_Knutson]

If you downloaded the project style driver, there will be examples listed in the LabVIEW example finder. Help>Find Examples>Hardware Input and Output>Instrument Drivers>LabVIEW Plug and Play. Open one, change the VISA Resource Name Control to Com1 by clicking on the little arrow on the right side. Then set the com port settings on the front panel to match what the instrument is set to. Run the VI and see if it works.

p.s. The valid device in MAX is the com port. It knows nothing at all about anything connected to the port.

[James H]

Hi Dennis,

When you says run the VI, you mean to open up LabView using the DAQ Assistant block, right?  Looking at the example in the getting started pack, I can connect a wavegraph to plot the measurements?

Thanks.

[Dennis_Knutson]

No, not at all. The DAQ Assistant has nothing at all to do with it. I mean exactly what I said. Start LabVIEW and go to Help>Find examples. When you find the path that I mentioned above, just double click the example you want to open.

[James H]

I was able to find the examples that you mentioned and nothing happens when I run them.  Could it be because I don't have the trigger set up yet?  Also, the title of these examples say that they are for Aglient, but I have a Keithley multimeter?

[Dennis_Knutson]

If the title says Agilent, then you have opened the wrong example. Exactly which driver did you download? Project style plug and play or just the plain plug and play? Where did you install it? With either, you should have a folder under your instr.lib called ke27xx. What is in that folder will depend on the type of driver you downloaded. The project style (recomended), will have a .lvlib and .lvproj files and folders called Examples, Private, and Public. If you don't have these, what do you have? Post an image of the directory structure.

Message Edited by Dennis Knutson on 06-23-2008 10:08 AM