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Installing
Software Utilities
Controlling the
Instrument from
Remote
The 2074 is supplied with a CD that contains the following
programs: IVI Driver, ArbConnection, USB driver and some other
utilities to aid you with the operation of the instrument. For bench
operation, all that you need from the CD is this manual however, it
is recommended that you stow away the CD in a safe place in case
you'll want to use the 2074 from a host computer or in a system.
The IVI driver is a useful utility that provides standard
communication and commands structure to control the 2074 from
remote. Programming examples are also available to expedite your
software development. The IVI driver comes free with the 2074
however, you'll need the IVI engine and visa32.dll run time utilities
to be able to use the IVI driver. The additional utilities can be
downloaded for free from NI's (National instrument) web site –
www.ni.com.
ArbConnection is a user friendly program that lets you control
instruments functions and features from a remote computer. It also
lets you generate and edit arbitrary waveforms on the screen, build
sequence tables, modulating signals and much more and then
download the signals to your 2074 without the hustle of writing
complex programs and utilities. This is also a great tool for you to
experiment simple, or complex command string to gain experience
before you write your own code. ArbConnection has a command
editor feature that allows direct low-level programming of the 2074
using SCPI commands, just as you will be using them in your
program. Installation of ArbConnection is simple and intuitive and
only requires that visa32.dll runtime file be added to your Windows
system folder. Download the file from NI's (National instrument)
web site – www.ni.com. Installation and operating instruction for
ArbConnection are given in Chapter 4.
The USB driver is required if you intend to connect the 2074 to a
host computer on a USB bus. Information how to connect the USB
cable and how to load the software is given in this chapter.
In general, the 2074 can be controlled from remote using one of the
following interfaces: USB, Ethernet and GPIB. Remote interface
cables are not supplied with the instrument so if you plan on using
one of the remote programming option, make sure you have a
suitable cable to connect to your host computer. The following
paragraphs describe how to connect and configure the 2074 to
operate from remote. The description is given for computers fitted
with Windows XP but little changes will show while installing
software on different Windows versions.
Configuring the Instrument
Installing Software Utilities
2
2-5
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