Controlling an 8970B

[DanB83]

Hello,

I would like to be able to control my Agilent 8970B Noise Figure Meter from Labview.  I have currently got it connected to my PC via a GPIB cable.

Using MAX, I can see the instrument is at address 8.  Using the NI-488.2 communicator I can send a command (eg. FA62MZFB66MZSS1MZCA - start freq 62MHz, stop freq 66MHz, step size 1MHz, calibrate).  This appears to work.

However, if I use the Instrument I/O Assistant in Labview, as I have done in the past to communicate with other Agilent kit, I can't see my instrument.

I have also tried the GPIB read and write blocks, but with no luck.  Even the LabVIEW<->GPIB VI in the "examples" directory does not work.

Any ideas would be most welcome.

Dan

[Dennis_Knutson]

The GPIB example should work if you can communicate in MAX. This is a pretty old instrument. Does it require a termination character (such as CR or LF) other than EOI?

Have you tried one of the existing Instrument Drivers? The problem with the instrument not showing up in the assistant could be because you haven't installed NI-VISA. You can confirm this in MAX. Also, what is the model of the GPIB board and what version of NI-488 are you using?