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Communicating with the Oscilloscope
Computers communicate with the oscilloscope by sending and receiving
messages over a remote interface, such as a GPIB card or a Local Area Network
(LAN) card. Commands for programming normally appear as ASCII character
strings embedded inside the output statements of a "host" language available
on your computer. The input commands of the host language are used to read
responses from the oscilloscope.
For example, HP BASIC uses the OUTPUT statement for sending commands
and queries. After a query is sent, the response is usually read using the
HP BASIC ENTER statement. The ENTER statement passes the value across
the bus to the computer and places it in the designated variable.
For the GPIB interface, messages are placed on the bus using an output
command and passing the device address, program message, and a terminator.
Passing the device address ensures that the program message is sent to the
correct GPIB interface and GPIB device.
The following HP BASIC OUTPUT statement sends a command that sets the
channel 1 scale value to 500 mV:
OUTPUT <device address> ;":CHANNEL1:SCALE 500E-
3"<terminator>
The device address represents the address of the device being programmed.
Each of the other parts of the above statement are explained on the following
pages.
Use the Suffix Multiplier Instead
Using "mV" or "V" following the numeric voltage value in some commands will cause
Error 138 - Suffix not allowed. Instead, use the convention for the suffix multiplier as
described in chapter 3, "Message Communication and System Functions."
Introduction to Programming
Communicating with the Oscilloscope
1- 3
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