GPIB/HPIB 488 control software

[Chancy99]

Hi -

My library of test equipment is starting to grow, slowly. Odd how it does that Several of them have gpib interfaces, like the digital scope and so on.

What do you use as your PC control software ? Labview ? Unfortunately, that's awfully expensive for a home lab - what else is there ?

D/

 

[nbucska]

Not only expensive but slow !!!
I prefer GWbasic for simple control like these-- if you need
more speed you can debug wit GW.. amd run with TURBOBASIC
(compiled )


<nbucska@pcperipherals.com>

 

[ScottyUK]

I remember using GWbasic to control GPIB instruments while I was studying. Not sure if the PC was a 286 or 386, but it was fairly straightforward from what I recall.

I will see if I still have any notes on it when I get back to in to the plant.

 

[Chancy99]

To be honest, I really have very little experience with IEEE488. I'm basically after being able to control the equipment from the PC, and to be able to snag screenshots of the scope for example.

I have an HP 54112D scope (great scope btw) and have had a couple of instances where it would be nice to grab a series of shots for documentation etc. I picked up an NI 488 card on ebay a while back, along with drivers etc.

Next step is ..... ?

Ta -

D/

 

[nbucska]

If you have manual for the card, you have to understand how it works.



<nbucska@pcperipherals.com>

 

[melone]

Labview is standard, and most equipment manufacturers have Labivew routines created, i.e. drivers. However, as NBUCSKA has pointed out, it can be kind of slow.

 

[analogkid2digitalman]

Chancy:

If you have the software CD (you mention you had drivers) then on it should be libraries for uSoft C/C++, Borland C/C++ and uSoft VB. There should also be a 32 bit library (gpib-32.dll) for other languages.

For those who state that LabView is slow, do you actually use it? My experience is that it executes compiled code quite fast.

 

[melone]

I have used Labview, and it IS slow. HOWEVER, for most applications, it is plenty fast enough!

 

[Chancy99]

I was hoping that there was something other than $$$ Labview for basic control over the scope etc. I'm surprised that HP and the other manufacturers don't have a simple &quot;front panel on a pc&quot; type software available.

D/

 

[analogkid2digitalman]

Chancy99-

Maybe you missed my post- LabView is not required for the card. On the CD there should be drivers/libraries/documentation for C and VB calls. During install, they typically prompt if you would like to install these.

-Pete

 

[Chancy99]

Pete -

Yup - the drivers are there. I don't really feel like churning out yet *more* code - I thought that there should be some generic front-ends available.

Basic scope, basic signal gen and so on. Ah well, the whip cracks, and I hear it. Back to the keyboard.

D/

 

[Chancy99]

For example, the 54112D has a hardcopy selection on the utility menu. Of course, selecting that pops up the error msg that there are no HPIB listeners available.

So I would need something running on the PC with the NI 488 card that would act as a gateway, receiving the datastream from the scope and dumping it via the print drivers to the laserjet.

I can't believe that an entire LabView setup is needed for that

D/

 

[analogkid2digitalman]

Chancy:

If all you want to do is screen dumps, then get a gpib equipped printer or plotter and skip the NI card and PC route totally. Or possibly get something like PrintCapture? See

http://www.printcapture.com.

-Pete

 

[Chancy99]

Pete -

Thanks for the tip. printcapture looks pretty good, but it's a serial interface setup. I would need the 488<->serial interface to be able to use it.

I already have the NI 488 card ... I guess what I'm looking for is a mini-Labview. A control panel for the scope would be nice, but basically as you said, just simple screen capture is all I need just now.

With *these* components and *this* timing, it looks like *THIS* record-keeping during prototyping and debugging. I like to keep my notes and docs online, so a gpib printer isn't really what I want.

D/

 

[Chancy99]

Just waking this thread up a bit again

No other ideas for a simple interface to a scope via gpib/488 ?

D/

 

[IRstuff]

Visual Basic with possibly some extra OCX's would probably be the best bet overall. Something like this:

http://www.prodxtive.com/OscilloChart_en.php

or even this from NI itself:

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/b28538eff4600373862569f500564ccc?OpenDocument

TTFN

 

[TWW]

HP Basic always worked well for me. The GPIB card can get setup using an autostart script, that you can select the options for your GPIB card (the hardest part). However HP basic has gone the way of latin it would appear, a dead languange.

 

[nbucska]

I prefer GWbasic for writing/debugging and compile it with
TURBO- if the code in not more than a few pages.

<nbucska@pcperipherals.com>