[time-nuts] Prologix GPIB-NET, HP 5370A, HP5334A problem?

[wje]

YI don't use read-after-write, and I explicitly set it off before 
reading. However, I did try it once just for fun, and it does work as 
expected.

The 5334 doesn't seem to assert eoi, so I do a '++read 10', which works 
just fine except for the WA1 strangeness.

Bill Ezell
----------
They said 'Windows or better'
so I used Linux.



Prologix wrote:
> Bill,
>
> How are you reading from 5334A? Is the read-after-write mode OFF?
> I recommend the following sequence:
>
> ++auto 0	-- turn off read-after-write
> ++read eoi	-- read until EOI is asserted by the instrument
> ++read eoi
> ....
>
> (If your instrument does not assert EOI, specify a character to terminate
> ++read command. See manual for details.)
>
> Yes, ++read will address the instrument to talk, read any output, and then
> address it to listen.
>
> We are testing an update that resets the controller if it detects a hung
> GPIB bus. I can send that to you offline.
>
> Regards,
> Abdul
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
> Behalf Of wje
> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 3:12 PM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: [time-nuts] Prologix GPIB-NET, HP 5370A, HP5334A problem?
>
> I just got one of the new networked GPIB controllers, and I've been 
> having some issues. I'm not sure if it's the Prologix or the 
> instruments, or both.
>
> With the 5370A, I can get samples for some period of time ranging from 
> about 2 to 4 hours before the GPIB controller stops responding. I 
> suspect this one might be the 5370A -488 controller bug I've heard of. 
> However, there is no way to recover without power-cycling the Prologix. 
> Even if this is the 5370A, the Prologix should really have an 
> asynchronous reset capability.
>
> With the 5334A, I can get samples for as long as I want, no problem. 
> However, if I set the 5334A to 'WA1' mode, which is supposed to wait 
> until the counter is addressed before taking each sample, what happens 
> is that I can read one value. Every successive read returns the same 
> value; the 5334A never triggers for a new sample. Either I don't 
> understand the behavior of WA1, although HP's sample program indicates 
> that what I've described is proper, or there is some incompatibility 
> between the Prologix and the 5334A.
>
> Unfortunately, the documentation for the Prologix is scanty at best. 
> There is no description of the actual IEEE-488 handshake process that's 
> going on. For example, does the Prologix do an unlisten after a read? 
> The HP docs seem to indicate that in WA1 mode, a sample starts when the 
> 5334A is addressed. So, if it's never unlistened, perhaps it never takes 
> a new sample?
>
> Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
>
>