Communicate to a Fluke 8840a, VB, IEEE-488; Error ECIC(1)

[Matt_VB]

I am trying to communicate to a Fluke 8840a using VB 6/Measurement Studio via IEEE-488

Using Explore GPIB I can scan and find the DMM.  However when ever I try to “Communicate with Instrument” I’m getting a ECIC (1) error [NI Spy] no matter what is typed into the “send string”.  I have been through the help files and nothing has worked or I am doing something wrong [most likely].

I have look at the fluke example and other examples and it is not much help as I keep getting the CIC error

I know the interface works on the DMM because it is calibrated through the port.

NI-488.2 Version is 1.6, NI Spy is 1.4.  My development system is Windows 2000 [no out side net connection]

Any help is much appreciated

[Matt_S.]

Hi Matt,

The error you are seeing is caused by your GPIB card not being the controller in charge. The error tells you that to do that command, your card has to the controller in charge of the system, which can be switched by low level commands. To prevent having to change this manually, you could try an updated version of the driver. You could download the driver on another computer and bring it to the system having this problem.

Common GPIB problems and their solutions -> ECIC

NI-488.2 v. 2.4 

Hope this is helpful,

Matt S.

[Matt_VB]

Matt S,

This was not the answer I was hoping for but what I sort of expected.  The reason was the additional paper work I needed/had to go through to allow the download of the executable from the net.

I got the upgrade installed and was able to read the DMM through the Explorer with no problem.  From here, I do not expect any further problems. 

Thanks Again

Matt