Real-Time control via GPIB

[Sorton]

Hello,

I'm a beginner with a LabView, but what I'm trying to achieve is the following: How can I control TDS460a oscilloscope that is connected to computer via GPIB in Real-Time? Desirable solution would be having a screen in LabView, that would project the oscilloscope readings in a Real-Time mode.  

Thank you!

[Albert.Geven]

Hi

It all depends on how fast your real time demands are.
Real time is not the same as fast but is guaranteed timing.
Once in 10 seconds can be real time.

In your case it all boils down to how many data bytes you want to transmit. GPIB is not the fastest for modern scopes with megabytes of data.....

[Sorton]

Hello and thank you for your reply.

Actually what I'm trying to do is to crreate a real time system that will be able to display oscilloscope scren in the labview.  It needs to be really fast and have a good feedback, because it will be used for certain testing that will require taking of snapshots (hardcopy image) really fast.  With that being said what I need is to create as best (fast feedback) display in LabView as posssible.  I will be using Tektronix TDS460a oscilloscope connected to Labview 8.2 via GPIB.

Thank you!

[Dennis_Knutson]

You should start by downloading the instrument driver. It includes an example that gets the waveform from the scope and displays it. You should also be aware that 'fast' and 'GPIB' are sort of mutually exclusive. The basic process is to initiate a capture, wait for the acquisition to complete, send the command to start the waveform transfer, wait for the transfer to complete, display it, and then repeat. The waveform transfer is a relatively long process. For the 460, the entire waveform is 50,000 points. Along with doing whatever other processing you have to do (i.e. saving to file), you may be able 10 or more per second. How many more is going to depend on a lot of factors but don't expect to able to do 100's of captures per second or anything close to continuous. For really fast captures, you would need to look at something much faster than GPIB. A pc based solution with a scope card from NI or another vendor would make much more sense.

[Sorton]

Thank you!