MXA burst power

[BrentSchenk]

Hi,

I'm trying to take burst power measurements using an Agilent MXA 9020.  the drivers so far have been great for taking most measurements but i have found it difficult for some specific measurements.  I noticed in the configure measurement type VI and configure measure VI it lists all types of measurements but in the read measurement VI it only has a few listed with the others, burst power included, in an "other measurements" option.  I can successfully take measurements of the listed ones but any of the "other measurements" the VI just hangs up and doesnt get anything back from the MXA.  if anyone has any suggestions or has dealt with this before it would make my day to find a solution!

thanks

Brent

[BrentSchenk]

bump,

i have still not been able to figure this out

[Chris G in AE]

Howdy Brent,

I have not seen this before so it could either be a problem with the driver or a problem with the instrument.  Can you post an NI Spy Capture of the communication between your computer and MXA?  Also, what bus are you using to communicate with your instrument? 

[BrentSchenk]

i was using this earlier but here is some of the captured commands

29.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":DISP:TXP:VIEW:WIND:T...")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.745       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

30.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":SYST:ERR?")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.745       Call Duration 00:00:00.030
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

31.  VISA Read ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", 256, "+0,"No error".")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.775       Call Duration 00:00:00.040
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

32.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":DISP:TXP:VIEW:WIND:T...")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.815       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

33.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":SYST:ERR?")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.815       Call Duration 00:00:00.020
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

34.  VISA Read ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", 256, "+0,"No error".")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.835       Call Duration 00:00:00.010
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

35.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":TXP:AVER ON;:TXP:AVE...")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.845       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

36.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":SYST:ERR?")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.845       Call Duration 00:00:00.010
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

37.  VISA Read ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", 256, "+0,"No error".")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.855       Call Duration 00:00:00.060
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

38.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", "")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.915       Call Duration 00:00:00.010
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

39.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":SYST:ERR?")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.925       Call Duration 00:00:00.020
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

40.  VISA Read ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", 256, "+0,"No error".")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.945       Call Duration 00:00:00.010
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

41.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":TXP:THR:TYPE REL;:TX...")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.955       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

42.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":SYST:ERR?")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.955       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

43.  VISA Read ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", 256, "+0,"No error".")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.955       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

44.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", ":INIT:TXP;")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.955       Call Duration 00:00:00.010
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

45.  VISA Clear ("GPIB0::18::INSTR")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000EF4
Start Time: 15:05:40.965       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

46.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", "*CLS")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000EF4
Start Time: 15:05:40.965       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

47.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", "*OPC")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000EF4
Start Time: 15:05:40.965       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

48.  VISA Write ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", "*STB?")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.965       Call Duration 00:00:00.000
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

49.  VISA Read ("GPIB0::18::INSTR", 16, "0.")
Process ID: 0x00000CDC         Thread ID: 0x00000B80
Start Time: 15:05:40.965       Call Duration 00:00:00.050
Status: 0 (VI_SUCCESS)

then it just keeps doing the status bit check and nothing else repeating 48 and 49 over and over...

thanks

Brent

[O_Proulx]

Hello Brent,

I'm sorry if I do not have an answer right away, but would it be possible to attach the .SPY file to a post so we can see the complete file.  Also, would it be possible to attach the high level VI you are using for this capture.

Thanks and have a great day. 

[BrentSchenk]

Alright i have actually solved the problem with this but it included me changing the driver which i can't imagine is usually a good idea.  Here's the steps i took to get the burst power.

Using the measurement aquire example i changed two of the drop downs from channel power to burst power and the third one to other.  Then i opened up the "other" subVI and within that VI i replaced the Wait for Acquisition SubVI with Trace Config VI.  Then I opened up the Fetch Measurement VI within the "other" subVI and changed the

%;:Fetch:TXP%d?

line to
:FETC:TXP?

and this made it work and give me the measurement I needed.  The only problem is i'm not sure how all this affects everything else in how it runs and all.  I think the main problem as it stood before was when it did the Wait for Acquisition SubVI it just hung up and had *STB in the GPIB Bus.  i didnt get a capture for this post but if any of this provides any insight to someone who might be able to explain or even suggest a better way to get around all this i would be all ears.

thanks

Brent

[BrentSchenk]

bump to see if anyone has figured this out.

[O_Proulx]

Hello again,

It seems like ":FETC:TXP?" is similar to all the command structure from all the VIs except the "others".  Did you try any other the other measurements in the "others" VI?  Can you post the manual of the instrument so we can compare these functions?  In any case, this modification should not change any other steps in the driver except the exact one you are doing.

I could not find the Trace Config VI, so I don't know what to say about that change specifically.  However, you are only changing an example in the driver, so again, as long as it makes your setup work...

Have a great day.

[BrentSchenk]

The manual was too big to be attached so i will put a link below and the "configure trigger.vi" is located (and i apologize if this is stating the obvious) in the driver library under configure->trigger

i know i started editing the example VI but my changes went deeper into the actual driver block code.  I wanted to see if either the driver needed to be fixed or if my changes sounded reasonable and wouldn't mess with anything else in the driver.

http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/redirector.jspx?action=ref&cname=AGILENT_EDITORIAL&ckey=879209&l...

[Chris G in AE]

Brent,

Your changes do sound reasonable and shouldn't change anything else with the driver.  Thanks for posting the work around, I'll be sure to check into this to see if we need to update the driver on our end.  I will post back with the results when we determine what to do.  Thanks!