INFICON SID-142 Thin Film Deposition Controller - Manual (Page 66)

Chapter 6 Computer Interface
6-1
6.0 Introduction
The computer interface capabilities of the SQS-142 program allow operation from an
external computer via RS-232 serial communications. The active process can be
selected, process parameters read or changed, operation controlled, and data collected.
Parameters may be read (Query commands) while the process is running, but can only
be changed (Update commands) while the process is stopped. Changes to the
“structure” of a process (e.g. add or delete layers) are not allowed from the computer
interface.
6.1 Serial Interface
Connect a serial cable from the SID-142 serial port to a computer serial port. The cable
required is a DB9 female to female with pins 2 and 3 crossed, commonly referred to as
a null modem cable.
In the SQS-142 program select the Edit, System menu, then the RS-232 tab. Set the
Comm Port to match the serial port the cable is connected to on the SID-142. Set the
baud rate to match the baud rate of the host computer that will be connected to the
SID-142. Communications format is No Parity, 8 bits, 1 stop bit.
6.2 SerialComm Program
SerialComm, found on the SQS-142 CDROM, is a simple Windows program to
demonstrate SQS-142 computer interfacing concepts. With SerialComm you can easily
send commands to, and read the responses returned by, the SQS-142 program.
SerialComm is written in Visual Basic, and the source code is included as an example
of programming concepts for computer interfacing.
Connect a cable from the host computer to the SID-142. Start the SQS-142 program on
the SID-142 controller, then select Edit, System, RS-232. Be sure the Comm Port and
Baud rate are set properly. Leave the Edit, System,RS-232 dialog box displayed.
Run the Setup program for SerialComm to install it on the host computer. Start
SerialComm then select the Utility tab. Set the Comm Port and Baud Rate for the host
computer. Click the Version button under the SID-142 Controller heading. Click Send
to send the query to the SQS-142 program.
The query string should show in the SQS-142 Monitor Receive Data, and the response
in Transmit Data. The response should also show on the SerialComm Response
display. The next section describes the Query/Update and Response strings in detail