Boonton 4530 Peak Power Meter User Manual User Manual
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Boonton Electronics
Chapter 4
4530 Series RF Power Meter
Remote Operation
*STB
Description:
Return the current value of the STatus Byte register. This register has bits assigned to a
number of possible events or conditions of the instrument. The register value may be read
using this command, or may be used to generate a service request (SRQ) over the GPIB
when certain conditions exist. Individual bits may be enabled or disabled for SRQ genera-
tion using the SRE mask (see
*SRE
command). Note that the bits in the STatus Byte
register are generally summary bits, which are the logical OR of the enabled bits from other
registers. The following table shows the bit assignments in the STatus Byte register:
Bit
Value
Definition
0
1
Not used
1
2
Not used
2
4
Not used
3
8
QUEStionable Status Summary
1 = an enabled QUEStionable condition is true.
4
16
Message AVailable flag bit
1 = an output message is ready to transmit.
5
32
Event Status Summary
1 = an enabled Event Status condition is true.
6
64
SRQ Summary Status
1 = an enabled Service ReQuest condition exist.
7
128
OPERation Status Summary
1 = an enabled OPERation condition is true.
Syntax:
*STB?
Returns:
Current Value of Status Byte register (0 to 255)
Valid Modes:
Any
*TST
Description:
Self-test query. This command initiates a self-test of the instrument, and returns a result
code when complete. The result is zero for no errors, or a signed, 16-bit number if any errors
are detected.
Syntax:
*TST
Returns:
Error Code
Valid Modes:
Any
*WAI
Description:
Wait command. This command insures sequential, non-overlapped execution. Occasion-
ally, the 4530 will execute commands in parallel for faster response. If a long-duration
command is being processed, and a second command is issued, their execution may over-
lap. If the second command requires a setting that the first command was changing, or is
invalid until the first command has executed, it is a good idea to issue a
*WAI
command to
insure that the second command won’t begin executing until the first one has completed.
An example of this is a mode change such as
CALCulate:MODe PULSE
, followed by
setting a pulse-mode-only parameter such as
DISPlay:TSPAN
. In this case, separate the
two commands with a
*WAI
command to ensure that there will be no conflicts. Another
option is to simply program a short delay (50mS) between such commands.
Syntax:
*WAI
Argument:
None
Valid Modes:
Any