I have an HP 54645D with a GPIB module installed, and I'd like to get data into my computer. I don't need anything fancy and I don't want to control or program the 'scope.
I'm using the phase function to measure the drift between 10 Mhz oscillators in pairs of Z3801A's. All I want is to get a listing of the phase values on a periodic basis, (every 1 sec. or 10 sec. or 100 sec., etc).
I figure I need a GPIB card for the PC, but I know nothing about all the styles I see, compatibility, drivers etc. I've read about LabView but that's super over-kill. A nice ASCII listing would suffice.
Agilent sells a basic data transfer program, called Benchlink, for about $300. It will talk to your scope, using the HPIB or RS-232. It runs on a PC in Windows.
If you can afford the HP Basic for Windows, about $1100, then you will get a fine Basic that will include graphics & HPIB support. You can write a quick and dirty data transfer routine in Basic, and then expand it as you want to add more capabilities.
I'm not sure, but I think any Basic, like maybe even the old Q-Basic, would be able to do the job. Just write and read to/from the appropriate HPIB card registers. But this is likely to cost more of your time, unless you work very cheap, than going the Benchlink route.
I think this ridiculously overpriced software is now obsolete, and has been replaced with FREE instrument toolbar utilities for Word or Excel that allow data to be easily pasted into documents or saved to file. There are versions for the at least the 54645D and 34401A DMM - the latter allows automated logging of data into a spreadsheet at programmable intervals - very handy!
I searched on "instrument toolbar" etc., and found the IntuiLink software at Agilent. It's exactly what I was looking for - one of the included sample macros for the 54645D is for periodic data logging.
It looks like I can use any GPIB board that that will fit a slot in the PC, data transfer speed isn't an issue here.
As far as ridiculously over-priced goes, those of us used to HP pricing (like I paid $8k for an HP application program, and then another $4k to update it; and it ran on about $120k of HP hardware) might have felt that $300 was a good deal.
However, free is even better, although Intuilink claims support of just a handful of newest Agilent gear. Most labs have a LOT of older HP (and other manufacturers too), mostly with IEEE-488 bus IO. I'm going to explore the use of Intuilink for talking to those "non-supported" instruments.
Thanks for the reference to this software; I doubt that I would have even gone looking for it until you described it.
Just an update and some further info for anyone interested in doing the same. - It works and it's cheap!
Got my AT-GPIB/TNT board yesterday (ISA card, $39 new on ebay *including* new 2m cable).
IntuiLink Excel toolbar control works well. The basic toolbar control lets you import any measurement the 54645D displays at the push of a button. For measurements that the 54647A GPIB/Measurement/Storage module takes, e.g. FFT, phase, delay etc., you have to program in the VBA of Excel.
However, working VBA examples are included (for Excel 97) . And with the aid of Agilent's downloadable Programming Guide for the 54645D (and quick reference), simple modifications can get you most of what you might want.
National Instruments lists many different part numbers for the AT-GPIB/TNT ISA card, for many different operating systems. After calling their tech department (very good IMO) I learned that the cards are the same, only the included drivers differ.
Further, all the drivers are available for free download, so it doesn't matter which version of the board you buy, you can make it work on your system (if a driver is listed for d/l).
That being said, National's drivers are NOT req'd for the AT-GPIB/TNT, it's supported by Agilent's driver for IntuiLink. (But I didn't know that since I got the drivers and installed them before I had the card in hand).
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