Locate discussion about "Frequency Response Analyzer Program (v3.5)"

[zilla]

Hello,
I'm trying to create a vi for a Solartron 1250. I was told by Solartron that I could use NI Spy to capture the code from the software they provide that will run the FRA. Then use that information to create a vi. Their program can be downloaded from their site is "Frequency Response Analyzer Program v3.5". I am trying to find some info on my NI Spy captures I found this link to a previous discussion "Frequency Response Analyzer Program (v3.5)"  but it's not a link to a discussion but a NI Spy Capture File. I don't see any command codes in the Capture that correspond to the User Manual for my 1250. I have also found the llb files for a Solartron 1260 but by looking at both user manuals I can see that the command codes for a 1260 are different on a 1250. Neither of which are SCIP compliant. So I guess my question is will it be possible to use NI Spy to reverse code their program, and gather enough info to create some LabView VIs to control the Solartron 1250?

Thanks for any little help.

[Dennis_Knutson]

You should be able to use NI-Spy or the commands in the manual as the basis of writing your own driver. I have no idea, though, why the commands you see in NI-spy do not match what is in the manual. Depending on how Solartron wrote their code, you should see either a series of ibwrt/ibrd or VISA Read/Write commands. The data being sent/received by these commands should match what is in the manual. Try to start small. With their software, initialize the instrument and then turn on NI-Spy. Use their software to send something simple and compare that result to the manual.

You also have the option of using the I/O Assistant. I would recomend first sitting down with the instrument manual and using MAX to perform writes/reads, and queries to get a basic understanding of the communication to the instrument.

[zilla]

I'm have been looking at using NI Spy as a tool to view what commands are being sent via the vendors program. What I don't under stand is why NI Spy drops off some of the code. Right now I'm just working with it to get the hang of it and when I capture simple commands sent to my Agilent 34970A I see that some of the command text has been dropped. Example I send *IDN? and get "HEWLETT-PACKARD,34970A,0,13-2-2" From MAX. Then I get "4.  ibrd(UD0, "HEWLETT-PACKA...", 2000 (0x7D0))" from NI Spy. Not a big deal in this case but when I send more complicated commands even some of the Write commads are obiously missing the end of the code. I think this will be a problem when it comes to using NI Spy to evaulate the code from Solartrons FRA program.

Update, I do see where I can right click on each line of the NI Spy Capture and view the Buffer to see the complete code. Seems like a major task if I can only view this code and not be able to copy it. What am I missing?

Thanks for your help.

[Dennis_Knutson]

There are options to change the buffer size and also to export the capture to a text file. What you are attempting to do is probably going to be a long and tedious process. I don't know of any shortcuts.

[zilla]

Thanks Dennis,

You have confirmed what I suspected. The FRA went out for repair, in the mean time I'm going to try and come up with a different way to get this job done.

[cledor]

Has anyone been able to run the Solartron FRA model 1250A using software package v3.5 via the USB/GPIB interface?. I'd like to know if there is a ready solution to save time.