Error BFFF0015 with a Tektronix TDS3054B oscilloscope

[m-s]

I am trying to acquire some data from an oscilloscope from two channels. I start the acquisition and then hit fetch sequentially for both the channels. All this is done inside a while loop to get continuously sampled data.  I get a VISA read timeout (I hit stop and then the error appears) :

Error code : BFFF0015
VISA Read in tktds3k Fetch Waveform.vi->Firsttest.vi
Has someone seen this before, and what is the fix ?

Thanks.

[Adam W]

Hi,

What version of the VISA driver are you using?  You can find the current driver here if you aren't using it.  Also, are you using serial?  Can you perform a loopback test on your port?  Can you use a VISA test panel in MAX to do a simple read/write? 

You might also want to see if you can increase the timeout value in your code, or add a termination character like a line feed (LF) or carraige return (CR) if you are using RS-232.

Hope this helps!

Adam W
Applications Engineering

[Dennis_Knutson]

The other possibility is that the scope hasn't triggered so there might not be any data to retrieve. Ahve you run one of the shipping examples to see whether you can acquire data with them?

[m-s]

Hello

I am using a fairly old version of LabVIEW (7.1 on Linux). Yes, I can do simple reads and writes and all my other instruments work (SR830, Agilent 33250A, Cryocon, etc.) properly. Its only this oscilloscope that is causing problems.

I have tried the example VIs included in the driver and they quit with the same error. It is possible that the scope has not triggered. Short of editing the drivers, I do not see what option do I have.

Thanks.

[RayFarmer]

Hi,

It looks likely that the scope hasn't triggered.

I take it that the signal you are trying to capture on the scope is continuous.

Can you post you example VI

Regards

Ray Farmer