Experimental Physics and
Industrial Control System

Eric Norum <[email protected]> · Tue, 25 Sep 2012 08:48:40 -0700

I'd like to log some data from an HP3458A precision multimeter but I've not been having much luck.   It may be the cheap Prologix GPIB/LAN adapter I'm using, but it may also be that I'm not sending the right commands.  I'm hoping that someone can provide some assistance.

Here's the STREAM protocol file and EPICS database that I put together -- all I want to do is read out a voltage every 10 seconds so these are pretty small:
========================================================
Terminator = "\n";
ReplyTimeout = 8000;

initialize {
    out "RESET";
    wait 2000;
    out "TARM HOLD";
    out "FUNC DCV,AUTO";
    out "NPLC 30";
    out "AZERO ON";
}

readback {
    out "TARM SGL";
    in "%f";
    ExtraInput = Ignore;
}
========================================================
record(bo, "$(P)$(R)Init")
{
    field(DTYP, "stream")
    field(OUT,  "@devHP3458A.proto initialize $(PORT) $(A)")
    field(PINI, "YES")
}
record(ai, "$(P)$(R)Reading")
{
    field(DTYP, "stream")
    field(INP,  "@devHP3458A.proto readback $(PORT) $(A)")
    field(SCAN, "10 second")
}
========================================================

This works about 2/3's of the time -- I see no differences between the commands that work and the commands that fail.
2012/09/25 08:42:36.905 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 11
TARM SGL\033\n\n
2012/09/25 08:42:36.905 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 0\n
2012/09/25 08:42:36.905 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 10
++read 10\n
2012/09/25 08:42:39.012 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP read 18
-1.126514098E-05\r\n
2012/09/25 08:42:39.012 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 1\n
2012/09/25 08:42:46.906 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 11
TARM SGL\033\n\n
2012/09/25 08:42:46.906 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 0\n
2012/09/25 08:42:46.906 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 10
++read 10\n
2012/09/25 08:42:54.907 L0 HP3458A:1:Reading: No reply from device within 8000 ms
2012/09/25 08:42:54.907 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 1\n
2012/09/25 08:42:56.906 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 11
TARM SGL\033\n\n
2012/09/25 08:42:56.907 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 0\n
2012/09/25 08:42:56.907 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 10
++read 10\n
2012/09/25 08:43:04.908 L0 HP3458A:1:Reading: No reply from device within 8000 ms
2012/09/25 08:43:04.908 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 1\n
2012/09/25 08:43:06.907 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 11
TARM SGL\033\n\n
2012/09/25 08:43:06.907 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 0\n
2012/09/25 08:43:06.908 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 10
++read 10\n
2012/09/25 08:43:09.339 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP read 18
-9.585676638E-06\r\n
2012/09/25 08:43:09.339 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 1\n
2012/09/25 08:43:16.908 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 11
TARM SGL\033\n\n
2012/09/25 08:43:16.908 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 0\n
2012/09/25 08:43:16.909 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 10
++read 10\n
2012/09/25 08:43:18.049 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP read 18
-1.046921711E-05\r\n
2012/09/25 08:43:18.049 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 1\n
2012/09/25 08:43:26.910 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 11
TARM SGL\033\n\n
2012/09/25 08:43:26.910 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 15
++eot_enable 0\n
2012/09/25 08:43:26.910 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP write 10
++read 10\n
2012/09/25 08:43:28.135 192.168.3.1:1234 TCP read 18
-1.109605325E-05\r\n

Any suggestions for how to make this more reliable?
Is there a different command I should be sending to initiate the transaction?

Thanks,
-- 
Eric Norum
[email protected]

Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System

Experimental Physics and
Industrial Control System