Labview Code for MKS 146 device

[gerrie]

Hi I am trying to write a labview code in order to send command to and receive data from a MSK type 146 device. The MKS 146 controls the gas flow of 2 to 4 MFC's. I am using RS-232. The commands work, however when I add a directory to save incoming date I get all sorts of error, like DMA hardware error detected or timeout expired before operation completed. I cannot figure out what is wrong with it.
Anybody that has experience with serial interface and/or the MSK 146 device please help.


Gerrie

[BEHajder]

Gerrie,

I have been using LabVIEW for serial data control and monitoring of various devices and have programmed communication with the MKS146. I would like to try to help you, but I am using LabVIEW version 6.1 and can not open your vi. If you could possibly save it as an earlier version I would be glad to help troubleshoot it.

Brian

[gerrie]

I tried saving it in the LB 6.1 version, but I ended up with some errors. Hopefully, this will can still give you a good idea of what I am doing.
Thanks,
Gerrie

[BEHajder]

Hi Gerrie,

Thank you for supplying a version 6.1 vi. But I am sorry to say I still have a problem trying to open it in version 6.1. LabVIEW asks me to find the "VISA Configure Serial Port (Instr).vi" but all I can do is Cancel (ignore the vi). The diagram shows all the VISA vis are there OK, but there is a vi missing, which you have used to generate the "Elapsed TIME" display and a floating point value. Is this a sub-vi you need to send me also?

One thing I see is that you need to insert a backslash "\" between the directory string and the time_format_string when you build the "FILE Name" string. Leaving this out creates a different file name than what you probably want, and may cause some type of error trying to create it.

Sorry I haven't been able to be more help. Let me know if you can tell me what vi I am missing.

Brian