How do I use TekVISA to send commands to my instrument?

How do I use TekVISA to send commands to my instrument?

TekVISA Download Link:TEKVISA CONNECTIVITY SOFTWARE

In order to communicate with and control the scope, you can use OpenChoice Talker-Listener. Back on the Application and Utilities panel, click on OpenChoice Talker Listener and click Start Application or Utility. A new window will pop up and you will see 4 different panels within the window: Instruments, where you select the instrument you want to communicate with, Enter Command or Script, the field where you would enter a programming command and send it to the instrument, Command/Script History, which stores the commands you’re previously sent, and Talker Listener Readout, which displays the contents of the data sent to and received from the instrument.

For example, let’s enter *IDN? into the script field and click the Query button. In the Talker Listener readout, you will see 3 lines: The first line is VISA opening the communication session with the scope. Notice that the Source is VISA, the command is the name of the scope, and the command type is Open Session. The second line is the PC writing a command to the scope. Notice that the source is my computer, the command is the query we sent, and the command type is write. The third line is the PC reading the response from the scope. Notice the source is the name of the scope, the data is the identification string of the scope, and the command type is Read.

Another useful tool in OpenChoice Instrument Manager is the Call Monitor. On the Application and Utilities panel, click on the OpenChoice Call Monitor and click Start Application or Utility. This opens a new window with three columns: Timestamp, Elapsed Time, and Parameters/Data. The Call Monitor allows you to see the exact VISA commands that TekVISA is sending to your instrument. For example if I click the Identify button on the main UI, I see several lines pop up in the Call Monitor that correspond with this action. This tells me that when I click the Identify button, TekVISA opens a visa session and sets up communication parameters, sends the *IDN? query to the scope, reads the response from the buffer, and closes the session. I can also use Talker Listener in conjunction with Call Monitor to see exactly what the VISA does when I send certain commands. If I enter the *IDN? query in Talker Listener, I see the same lines that showed up when I did the same thing using the Identify button.

OpenChoice Instrument manager is a powerful tool for communicating with instruments and debugging commands. In the next video, I’ll walk through what commands can be used, what they do, and where to find them.

YouTube Part 1/3: http://youtu.be/ob1wTNI0tnw

YouTube Part 2/3: http://youtu.be/38Q4eCcZv-8

YouTube Part 3/3: http://youtu.be/0FZ6DXP6USE

FAQ Part 1: /support/faqs/what-tekvisa-and-how-can-i-use-it-communicate-and-control-my-instrument

FAQ Part 2: /support/faqs/how-do-i-use-tekvisa-send-commands-my-instrument

FAQ Part 3: /support/faqs/how-do-i-use-programmer-manual-my-instrument