timeout error watlow 96

[SAMullin]

I am trying to read the temperature and write a setpoint from/to a Watlow 96 temperature controller.  I searched the forums and downloaded a driver called Watlow96.llb by Brian Vibert (circa 2003).  As far as I can tell, everything is set up correctly (the Baud rate matches between the computer COM port, etc.)  However I am getting a timeout error.  I haven't been able to read or write anything to the controller so far.

At this point I'm using the evaluation version.  As far as hardware setup goes, I have tried using the driver on a computer with a built-in COM port.  I have also tried using a Belkin F5U409 USB to Serial adapter.  

I am new to all of this, but I've tried to do my homework.  Here are my thoughts, and I'll describe where I'm stuck on each one.  Any help would be much appreciated.

1) I can't figure out if I'm communicating with the device through the COM port.  Every indication is that I should use hyperterminal, but I don't know anything about it and I want to get feedback before I delve into another new topic.  How do I test if the device is properly communicating?

2) Can I use the DAQ assistant to start from scratch instead of using this driver?  This device is not explicitly supported, and has no affiliation with National Instruments.  However, some legacy software in my lab using LabView 7 was apparently able to read/write to the controller using the DAQ assistant (though I'm still checking on that, and waiting on the huge DAQmx software package to download).

3) The driver has a rather complicated procedure buried in the code to communicate according to RS232 standards.  I have only an inkling what that means, since I'm a chemical engineer by training and this is all foreign to me.  I presume there are built-in LabView protocols for dealing with these standard operations, but I'm having trouble looking for them in the right places.  Is this the case, and where should I look?

Again, any help would be much appreciated.  I'm basically giving myself a crash course in LabView as I urgently need to figure out if I can tie-in some instrument measurements and temperature control.  The temperature control ought to be the easy part, so I'm starting here.  

Thank you for any consideration.

Regards,

Scott

[SAMullin]

With respect to my question #2 above, the DAQ assistant was used for a NI-based device (not the temperature controller of interest) after all, I just don't have it on my current computer.

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

Hyperterminal is easy to set up and use and is your best best for troubleshooting.

In Windows do Start/Programs/Accessories/Communications/Hyperterminal. Select your Com port and set it up to match the Watlows communications parameters.

Also, are you using the proper serial cabling between the PC and the Watlow?

-AK2DM

[SAMullin]

I believe the cabling is correct, as I've used it before with legacy programs to connect to the controller.

I'm not sure what to do in hyperterminal.  Are there any simple commands to read registers off of the bus, for example?  I'm looking around now for a hyperterminal guide.

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

Hyperterminal is just a generic communications terminal. You will have to read the documention from Watlow on what commands to type into Hyperterminal to get data back from it.

-AK2DM

[SAMullin · Accepted solution]

The fix for this was rather simple, as it ended up being a problem with my computer recognizing the COM port correctly.  After restarting, the pulldown for the COM ports was refreshing (whereas it wasn't before) and the program ran fine out of the box.