LabVIEW
Connecting a Power Supply - Without the drivers
Here is the command list:
This page tells you how to use it.
https://jcastellssala.com/2017/10/31/tenma72-2540-linux-control/
It should be easy to replicate in LabVIEW
@aeastet wrote:
Here is the command list:
This page tells you how to use it.
https://jcastellssala.com/2017/10/31/tenma72-2540-linux-control/
It should be easy to replicate in LabVIEW
Wow! Technically equal to HPVSL, Hewlett-Packard Voltage Source Language, developed in the 1960's before IEEE started stealing the Hewlett-Packard Instrument Bus, HPIB, and opened up GPIB 488 standards to the "General Purpose" Test Instruments community .
Then SCPI became a "Thing" then.... computer programming of test systems started to get traction.
Somehow, I think that "future-proof" system design should not include technology that is already 50 years obsolete. 🤔 just a thought.
In other words. Your choice of TENMA as a supplier for equipment is poor and needs to be rethought for Obsolescence as it is already obsolete.
@JÞB wrote:
@aeastet wrote:
Here is the command list:
This page tells you how to use it.
https://jcastellssala.com/2017/10/31/tenma72-2540-linux-control/
It should be easy to replicate in LabVIEW
Wow! Technically equal to HPVSL, Hewlett-Packard Voltage Source Language, developed in the 1960's before IEEE started stealing the Hewlett-Packard Instrument Bus, HPIB, and opened up GPIB 488 standards to the "General Purpose" Test Instruments community .
Then SCPI became a "Thing" then.... computer programming of test systems started to get traction.
Somehow, I think that "future-proof" system design should not include technology that is already 50 years obsolete. 🤔 just a thought.
In other words. Your choice of TENMA as a supplier for equipment is poor and needs to be rethought for Obsolescence as it is already obsolete.
That's a strong statement. If you want to use Tenma or not is a personal decision. They are cheap for sure, technically I'm not so sure but the fact that they use a somewhat older command set is hardly an argument. Yes it is not SCPI, but SCPI is just one of many options, and the unofficial promise of SCPI that command sets are common among the same device type for different manufacturers are actually quite false. SCPI doesn't mandate a strict command set, just a command format, unlike the IEEE 488.2 common commands which are actually strictly defined.
Interestingly there are other power supplies from manufacturers like Multicomp Pro (a Farnell brand that usually sells OEM hardware from others under this name) that look fairly similar to the Tenma, but with usually a different front panel layout. They have also the same command set and likely the same hardware internally.
The USB communication port is simply a USB-CDC device, so a virtual RS-232 port that works with most modern OSes automatically as Linux TTY or Windows COMM port. My guess is that it is probably a Microchip PIC inside that does the whole control of the device, display, reading the buttons and knob encoders and of course the USB communication. One thing to watch out when communicating with them is that they have a particular command termination detection. Unlike with most modern devices they don't use a termination character but an intercharacter delay as <end of message> detection. This means that the command needs to arrive with an intercharacter delay smaller than some amount of ms, as it otherwise attempts to parse the command. Not a problem if you work with LabVIEW or another software and send the entire command in one go, but don't try to operate such a device in a terminal program. You won't be able to type fast enough to enter an entire command before the device tries to parse it. 😁
Personally I would always prefer to go with power supplies from a manufacturer like Delta Electronics, and no that is not just because they are Dutch 😁. We have here power supplies from them that are from before personal computers were a thing and they still work, and I have not much reason to believe that the newer devices will do worse. I had a Tenma device on my desk last year. It had lots of control possibilities but it was also making a lot of noise from the fan, even if there was no load. The Delta supplies don't make noise even when loaded heavily. 😁
If the quality and durability is a factor I dare to doubt that Tenma comes out as top notch, but to use the command set as a KO argument sounds pretty artificial. If money is the main factor and the noise not, Tenma for sure has some appeal. 😀
