Getting Yokogawa WT210 to Interact with LabVIEW (or anything for that matter)

[tomg09]

Hey all,

I have a Yokogawa WT210 power meter that I'm trying to read from.  I downloaded the Yokogawa drivers for the device from Labview's built in Instrument Driver finder, and can pull up the examples.  I also have the appropriate cabling (DB25 to DB9 to USB) which works with other equipment (including a spectrophotometer I had to write drivers for myself - PITA).  The issue is when I run the sample programs, nothing happens.  I receive a timeout error from the first command that's sent to the device (*IDN?).  If I wire a "False" to "ID Check?" the next command errors out in the same way.  It's as if the device won't respond to any commands.  I believe I have the instrument set up right (488.2 over serial in the "Local" settings menu - windows and device both have same baud rate, parity, etc - using default values).  I've also looked over the manual a bit.  I've seen other people on the forums get the sample programs working with little trouble, so I know the drivers are ok...anyone have any insights?

EDIT: It also won't work with one of the downloaded programs from the Yokogawa website, but then again, I have no idea if I'm using that software right.  I haven't tried their WTViewer...or whatever it's called.

TG

[Dennis_Knutson]

It sounds like you might not have a correct serial connection. The fact that the cabling works with a different instrument is not relevant. What matters is how the manual for this instrument says you should connect it. Not does it matter how Windows has the port configured. Either MAX or the instrument driver should be setting the com parameters.

[tomg09]

That's what I thought too...but there are only so many serial options.  If MAX shows what the device shows, what else can I try?

[Dennis_Knutson]

There are nearly countless serial options. Since you have not explained the wiring for your existing setup or attached the manual that explains the expected wiring, I can't suggest anything.

[tomg09]

I guess I'm not following.  Baud rate, parity, stop bit, data length, flow control, term character...that's 6 settings that I have access to setting, and they appear to be the same between MAX and the device.  Maybe I'm missing something.  I attached a link to the manual.  Serial settings are talked about in Chapter 11.  I have the serial version, not the GPIB version of this device.  The device is connected to my laptop via a DB25->DB9->USB cable (from OP).  There is only one data port on the device - a DB25 port.

WT210 Manual

[Dennis_Knutson]

Please pay attention to what I said. I said to check the wiring of your connection and compare it what the manual says. Use an ohmmeter to buzz out the wiring. I never said anything about GPIB.

[tomg09]

Can you explain what is meant by "buzz out"?  Do you mean use an ohmmeter to verify that the pins of the DB25 output on the device are matched with the correct DB9 pins?

[Wayne.C]

TG,

What 'Handshake Method' do you have the WT210 configured for?  Yokogawa WT200 series is very particular about cable cofiguration for certain handshake modes.  Hand shake mode '5' for instance requires a 'Null Modem Crossover' cable that is different from a normal null modem cable.

[tomg09]

The handshake method is 0, format is 0, baud is 9600, delim is CR+LF.

[Dennis_Knutson]

Do you even know if you are supposed to use a null modem or straight through cable?