LabView VISA problem

[ShaneJ]

Hi, I'm very new to LabvView and I'm having trouble with communicating with an instrument. It's on an RS232 port Com1. I decided to test if LabView could communicate with the device so I loaded the setup software that came with it which established a connection on Com1. So I went into Instrument I/O assist and I was able to successfully validate the the port settings. I went into the VISA test Panel and I ran the Basic I/O *IDN?\n and I got I read count of 6 back, but a status of 0. I executed viGetAttribute VI_ATTR_TMO_VALUE and it returned 2000. So I added a Query and Parse step for the *IDN?\n command and I get a timeout Status code : bfff0015 no matter what I set the timeout value to. So I'm wondering if this means the VI's that came with our instrument won't be able to communicate with it. Or is there some obvious thing I'm doing wrong?


Thanks for your patience,

-Shane

[Dennis_Knutson]

First of all, what is the instrument you are trying to program? Second, the Write function returns the number of bytes that are sent. It has nothing to do with the number of bytes that the instrument might send back and you will get the same thing whether the instrument is connected or not. Third, do you know for sure that the instrument supports the *IDN? command? Verify that it is listed in the manual. Fourth, have you tried to use Hyperterminal to communicate to the instrument? That's the first step I always recomend. Once that works, you know your com settings and cable are correct. Lastly, if you got VIs that came with the instrument, have you tried running those and do you get a similar error?

[ShaneJ]

I am trying to work with a controller that moves an actuator for a stage. I can communicate with it and move it around with the program that came with it. When I try any of the ascii commands that are mentioned in its manual in Labview, I get no response. There was to mention of IDN in the manual, but then again the commands it does mention have not worked. I will try Hyperterminal. I get no response from the VIs that came with the instrument.

Thanks,

-Shane

[xseadog]

hi Shane,

Dennis asked you what instrument you were attempting to communicate with you answered an actuallor

How can we help

You can help by being more thoughtful! What is the instruments name etc

If you have already some vi's with the instrument then surely you have some code ?

What programme does it appear to work with?

Xseadog

[MissyS]

Hi Shane,

Also make sure that you are using the proper termination character with the command you send to your device. Here and here are documents that discuss adding termination characters automatically for you with VISA. Otherwise, you can just add this character to the end of the string you write to the device. I hope this helps!

Regards,