connenct instrument

[johnny1985]

Hi! I m new at this site as also with Labview so you might find my question silly..

I have an OTDR instrument (ANDO AQ-7110C optical fiber analyzer) and I want to connenct it with my PC and see its measurements through my pc.

I m pretty sure that I ll have to use the GPIB port to do the physical connection but what else will I need to finally make it all the way?I don t even know if this can be done eventually...

so,a little help here?:-)

[JÞB]

Well start with the manual (you are never wrong reading the manual)http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CF4QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsuppo...

It looks like you need a IEC to GPIB adaptor.  And there does not seam to be a LabVIEW driver available so, you get to write your own using VISA and the manual

[johnny1985]

Thank you so much for your instant reply!!! A couple of questions though...what is the purpose of an IEC?I look it up but I didn't manage to figure what it is and why I need it.Also..In case my instrument has driver its self,is there any change for what I have to do?Thank you so much!

[warEagle12]

Hello,

I believe page 117 of the document posted in the previous post talks about IEC and GPIB and how they work together. Take a look through that as well asl look at your device to see what kind of connection you need. Also, do you have a driver for your device? If not, as Jeff said above, you will have to write your own using VISA. 

Thanks!

[Dennis_Knutson]

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@johnny1985 wrote:

Thank you so much for your instant reply!!! A couple of questions though...what is the purpose of an IEC?I look it up but I didn't manage to figure what it is and why I need it.Also..In case my instrument has driver its self,is there any change for what I have to do?Thank you so much!

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What exactly did you lookup and where did you find it. The IEC is simply a European standard similar to GPIB. It uses a different physical connector so unless you've purchased an IEC controller instead of a GPIB controller, simply ignore all references to IEC. The manual says quyite clearly that the instrument has a GPIB (IEEE-488) connector.

[johnny1985]

Thank you so much people for your answers!

I finally connected my instrument with a GPIB cable to my pc.I m trying now to figure out if they can communicate.So I placed in my block,a ''GPIB write''.

In "address string" I put the address of the instrument.In "data" I put START (manual pg.121).Shouldn't I see something in the instrument so I can see if there is any communication cause nothing happens.Is wrong something with my data?

[warEagle12]

Hello,

Have you tried using one of the examples in the example finder? You can do this by going to Help >> Find Examples... in LabVIEW, and then navigating to Hardware Input and Output >> GPIB. There are two examples there -- one using the VISA commands and another that is a simple GPIB VI. 

Are you able to see your device in Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX)? If you continue to have trouble, here is an article that might be helpful:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/A80DBFCCAC36EBDE862562C80058856E?OpenDocument

Thanks!