BNC 845-M - Manual (Page 8)

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Model 845-M Programmer’s Manual V1.1 2011
NI-VISA 3.0 or later allows you to communicate as a controller to Model 845-M. NI-VISA is configured to detect
USBTMC compliant instruments such as the Model 845-M. To use such a device, plug it in and Windows should
detect the new hardware and launch the New Hardware Wizard. Instruct the wizard to search for the driver,
which in this case is NI-VISA. If NI-VISA is properly installed, the device will be installed as a USB Test &
Measurement Class Device. Open Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX). The new device will appear in
MAX under Device and Interfaces » USB Devices. You can then use this resource name as you would use any
GPIB resource.
USB-TMC Interface Connection and Setup using BNC API
BNC API programming interface supports direct communication to Model 845-M using BNC’s proprietary DLL
driver libraries. The library allows setup a communication channel though USB, LAN , or GPIB from any
programming environment.
Please contact Berkeley Nucleonics for more detailed documentation, programming samples, and updates on
the
DLL library.
GPIB Interface Connection and Setup
This documentation is available in an updated version of this programmer’s manual.
Using SCPI for Mode1 845-M
The Standard Commands for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI) provides a uniform and consistent
language to control programmable test and measurement devices in instrumentation systems. The SCPI
Standard is built on the foundation of IEEE-488.2, Standard Codes and Formats. It requires conformance to
IEEE-488.2, but is pure software standard. SCPI syntax is ASCII text, and therefore can be attached to any
computer test language, such as BASIC, C, or C++. It can also be used with Test Application Environments such
as LabWindows/CVI, LabVIEW™, or Matlab®. SCPI is hardware independent. SCPI strings can be sent over any
instrument interface. It works equally well over USB- TMC, GPIB, RS-232, VXIbus or LAN networks.
Please see the chapter 4 for detailed description of supported SCPI commands.