GPIB Instruments did not responds to *IDN?

[Darmawan]

I have just bougth a new NI GPIB interface, that is GPIB-USB-B. I have installed the GPIB-USB-B and at driver and device in MAX, GPIB-USB-B is there (known). I connect the GPIB-USB-B to the Hybrid Recorder 2005E Yokogawa.
When i can the instruments, it works. Hybrid recorder is known as instruments0 with Primary address 1. But when i try to communicate with the Hybrid Recorder by using wizard/interactive DOS porgram, write process is okay where as read process is failed with error EABO. I try again but is still failed.

The condition is i dont have GPIB manual of Hybrid recorder. i am still looking for GPIB manual of Hybrid Recorder. My questions are:
1. Is the *IDN? command not understood by the Hybrid recorder ? Because there is a message in MAX after communication process that the instruments did not respond to IDN ?
2. Are the GPIB commands standard among the GPIB instruments ? For example, are the GPIB commands for GPIB Instruments Hybrid recorder the same with another GPIB instruments such as Fluke ?
3. What should i do to solve this problem ?

Thanks for your attention. I really need this solution ASAP....   Thanks.

[Makoto]

(1)

If the NI-MAX shows the instrument manufacturer name, model name, and firmware revisions, you can think the instrument does understand "*IDN?" query, because NI-MAX acquires the instrument info through "*IDN?".  If they are not shown, the instrument does not understand the "*IDN?" command.  You mentioned that NI-MAX has claimed the instrument didn't respond to *IDN?, so I believe the command is NOT supported. 

(2)

Basically instrument command languages are different among instrument manufacturers and models.  Recent SCPI instruments have common language interfaces such as SENSe:CURRent:RANGe, MEASure:POWer?, etc..., however these compatibility is not perfect.  If your instrument does not understand "*IDN?" query, it means the instrument is not compliant with IEEE488.2, at the same time not compliant with SCPI.  In this case, there is almost no compatibility between Yokogawa and Fluke. 

(3)

You should contact Yokogawa for obtaining the manual.  Other solution is look for the instrument driver. 

このメッセージは　07-27-2006 05:04 PMに Makoto が編集しています。

[Darmawan]

Thanks for your explanation before, but there are something i want to ask :

1. Where do Ni-MAX state instrument manufacturer name, model name, and firmware revisions ? In driver and device ? Because my NI-MAX shows only instruments0 and primary address=1.

2. What can i do with instrument driver ? what is the file extension ?  Should instrument driver compatible with Labview?

3. I have been searching the instruments driver at NI site. I enter NI developer zone and search the driver (Yokogawa HR2500E), but i can not find that. i try to download only HR2300 but fail. Maybe the driver is no longer supported by NI.

Please tell me, where can i find the Instrument driver (Yokogawa HR2500E) ?

Thanks for your help. 

[Dennis_Knutson]

As has been explained, if your instrument does not support the *IDN? command, nothing besides the address will be listed in MAX. You can manually send commnands from MAX to see if it responds to something else. You need to check the manual for the instrument to see if there is such a command.

When you went to the instrument driver network, there were links there that explained what a driver is, types of drivers, and how to use one. A traditional LabVIEW driver is a set of VIs packaged into an llb file. The VIs ease the task or programming an instrument. For example, a VI for a DMM might have a control with the options 'Volts AC', 'Volts DC', 'Ohms'. So instead of having to learn the actual command necessary to set the DMM to the mode you want, you just set the control of the VI and the VI issues the specific command.

Your 2500 is not listed which means that a driver for it was never written by NI or someone who submitted one. I don't know why you couldn't download the 2300. What happened when you tried?

You can also check the manufacturer to see if they have a driver. Many companies write their own and do not provide them to NI. It's worth a try. If you can't find a driver, you have a few options. The main instrument driver web page has a link where you can request a driver. NI will develop a driver based on demand. There is also a link on how to write your own driver. There are tools available that make this much simpler. If you can write a LabVIEW program, you can write a driver. There is also the option of using the Instrument I/O Assistant. You don't have quite the flexibility as you would have with a full driver but it's perfectly suitable for a large number of tasks. If you create your own driver or use the I/O Assistant, you will need the programming manual from the vendor. With either, I would suggest you first experiment with communicating to the instrument in MAX.

[Darmawan]

I have been trying to search drivers from Instrument Driver Network at NI. There are two model of GPIB instruments available, they are HR1300 and HR2300. When i try to download the driver through the link of  "Download ykhr130g (for Labview 8.0,7.0 and 6.0), it failed ("The requested URL could not be retrieved). This is always happened.

I have just requested driver through NI main instrument driver web pages for Yokogawa HR2500E. Shall i be informed by email ? Is any possibility the GPIB of instrument (HR2500E) broke?

Thanks again for your help, Dennis. i really appreciate it.

[Dennis_Knutson]

I was able to download the driver with no problmes. I attached the zip file. Unzip it to your \instr.kib folder.

Informed about what? About whether NI has received your request or whether the driver will be created? I doubt that you will receive an emaila bout either and frankly, I doubt that NI will create the driver at all. As I said, NI creates drivers based on demand and if there is little demand and if the instrument is old, there's little chance they will create it for you. Besides the other options I mentioned, there are companies and individuals that do LaVIEW driver development on a contract basis.

Why would you think the GPIB of the instrument is broken? MAX finds an instrument at the address you have set, correct? If the only problem is that it doesn't respond to *IDN?, then no, it's not broken. All you have to do is read the programming manual and see if the *IDN? command is listed there. If it's not, stop worrying about *IDN?.

Message Edited by Dennis Knutson on 07-28-2006 07:09 AM