can't connect to Newport 1918-c power meter

[edCubed]

I'm trying to use labview to control a Newport 1918-c power meter. I have installed drivers for the power meter and I supposedly have the labview VIs for the power meter (emailed to me by Newport); but when I use labview's "find instrument drivers" tool, it tells me that "no instruments are connected".

Is there other software that I need so that labview can see the power meter? Or is there a way I can use the instrument drivers from Newport to make labview detect the power meter?

Thanks for the help.

[Albert.Geven]

Long time ago I had such a problem and if memory serves me well, the newport comes with several drivers and you should read the manual carefully to understand what happens for usb and or add-in cards

[edCubed]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give the manuals/help files another read.

[edCubed]

It looks like I have all the latest drivers/firmware for the newport 1918-c but labview still doesn't see it. I guess I'll just keep screwing around with it.

If anyone has had a similar problem & solution let me know.

[Hassan_Atassi]

Hi edCubed,

Does the device show up in Windows Device Manager?  One thing to try is to switch USB ports. 

[edCubed]

The power meter application software works on my computer, so I know my computer can detect the device.

I tried using a different USB port and got the same error.

Check out the attached PDF. It's got more information and screen shots of the errors I'm running into.

Thanks again for the help.

[Albert.Geven]

Hi

the warning can be ignored because this warning only says that the vi's are found in another directory as the last time they were saved.

Save them again and you won't see it anymore.

I expect that you have to type in something maybe a number that should be found.

Is there something in the manual about it?

[MAILFERTSeb]

Hi,

I've the same problem...

But I don't have the USB drivers (it's not recongnized by Windows...) and no software (the CD provided with the powermeter don't contains the good one for my model!!!).

Have you solved your problem?

Thanks

[edCubed]

Hi there.

I was able to get the 1918-c working. Check out the "software and downloads" section of Newport's website to find the appropriate software drivers for your power meter: ftp://download.newport.com/

Make sure to install the 32 bit version of the drivers. the 1918-c software comes with 3 versions of Labview VIs labeled: "LabView 7.x", "LabView 8.x", and "LabView 2009". I am running Labview 2010 but for some reason the only set of VIs that run properly on my computer are the "LabView 8.x" VIs. When you find the correct set of VIs put them in LabView's "instr.lib" folder. Now you should be able to find the VIs in LabView and place them on your block diagram.

For me LabView did not detect the power meter when it was connected to my computer. But this wasn't a problem because the 1918-c VIs still allowed me to send commands and read the power meter output via the usb connection between the 1918-c and my computer. Also, don't worry If you see expected file path errors when you load the 1918-c VIs, the VIs should still run properly.

I had a lot of problems getting the LabView software to work. If you get stuck contact National Instruments & Newport.

Good Luck.

[MAILFERTSeb]

Hi,

Thanks for your help.

I've found the Vis after hours spent on their ftp website!

I can use them on a 32 bits (Windows XP) but it's impossible to install the drivers on Windows 7 64bits.

Do you have an idea?

Thanks

Sébastien