S Mode GPIB-232/485CT-A difficulties

[Burebista]

Hello
I have a GPIB-232/485CT-A controller and I try to communicate with an Agilent ESA Series Spectrum Analyzer with a GPIB interface.
I configure the controller in S mode and I’m using some Agilent software for that. With the device connected with a PCI-GPIB+ everything is OK, but with the device connected to GPIB-232/485CT-A in S mode and with the PC over the serial port, I get no response from the device.

I try to communicate with it (in the GPIB-232/485CT-A configuration) from LabVIEW 7.0 with an instrument driver downloaded from NI website, but I have the same problem.

I think is something connected with the instruction format. Do I need any additional software to convert the instruction format?

[JoshuaP]

Hey Burebista,

The GPIB-232CT-A is a device that was created years ago and is not supported by the standard 488.2 drivers like the pci-gpib+. Here is a link to a tutorial and the user manual that explains what you will need to do in order to get the gpib-232 to work.

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/9B25BB8B892CE09086256804005D2F37?opendocument

http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/320504d.pdf

Just follow the instructions and you should be able to use the device. If you have an instrument driver for the Agilent ESA that uses VISA you should be ok, because the CT-A should convert standard serial writes to GPIB messages. However, you are not going to be able to open up MAX and perform a scan for instruments or even see the GPIB-232CT-A.

I hop
e this helps out.

JoshuaP