agilent E4440A spectrum analyzer timeout error

[w.arjun]

Hi,

I was trying to read data from an Agilent E4440A PSA (Spectrum Analyser) into LabVIEW using the Instrument IO Assistant. I am able to querry the instrument using the Querry and Parse step in the IO Assistant. But when I try to do a Read and Parse I get an error saying "VI_ERROR_TMO : A Timeout Occured".

I have installed the corresponding instrument driver from the NI Instrument Driver page, but still its not working. I am using a GPIB-USB interface to communicate with the PSA, and I believe I have a relatively new version of NI-488.2 and the IVI Compliance package.

Any kind of help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Arjun Warrier
 

[Dennis_Knutson]

You have to understand the difference between a query and parse and a read and parse. When you do a query, you send a command that tells the instrument to take a measurement and then place the results into the instrument's output buffer which is then read and parsed. When you just do a read, if you haven't previously commanded the instrument to take a measurement, the instrument's output buffer will be empty and that will cause the timeout error.

[thehobbs]

It is good to try the Instrument I/O Assistant, but if an instrument driver exists I think you are better using it.  You can include more details here about your instrument driver, LabVIEW, and IVI Compliance Package versions.  Also, have you tried running one of the examples that comes with the driver?  What error are you getting?

[w.arjun]

Thanks Jason,

These are the details of the IVI driver I am using, also I am using LabVIEW 7.1 and IVI Compliance package 2.2


Multi-Environment Certified IVI Instrument Driver
       
           
      Manufacturer(s)     Agilent Technologies
Hewlett-Packard
           
      Models     Click here to see models supported by this driver.
      Interface(s)     IEEE488
           
      Instrument type(s)     Analyzer
           
      Driver version     2.24            
      Original Release Date     16-OCT-03            
      Update Release Date     09-JAN-06            
      IVI Class Specification and version     IviSpecAn 1.00            
      Extensions Supported     Base, DeltaMarker, Display, ExternalMixer, ExternalTrigger, Marker, MarkerType, Multitrace, Preselector, SoftwareTrigger, Trigger, VideoTrigger            
      Source Code Availability     Available           
      Model(s) Tested     E4401B, E4440A             

Note: The driver was tested with the firmware revision A.08.00 and later. It is recommended to use the latest firmware revision


I am having some problems with the logical name config in MAX. I have attached the screen shots as a zip file as well as one of the vis I developed. It returns the same timeout error I mentioned in the previous post.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Arjun

[thehobbs]

You only need to configure the logical name if you are wanting to develop IVI applications for interchangeability.  For now, just try using the standard resource name (GPIB0::xx::INSTR, etc...) in the Initialize VI.