Agilent Technologies 3458A User Manual page 5

Preface
This manual contains installation information, operating and programming information, and configuration information for
the 3458A Multimeter. The manual consists of the following chapters:
Chapter 1 Installation and Maintenance
This chapter contains information on initial inspection, installation, and maintenance. It also contains lists of the
multimeter' s available options and accessories.
Chapter 2 Getting Started
This chapter covers the fundamentals of multimeter operation. It shows you how to use the multimeter's front panel, how to
send commands to the multimeter from remote, and how to retrieve data from remote.
Chapter 3 Configuring for Measurements
This chapter shows how to configure the multimeter for all types of measurements except digitizing (digitizing is covered
in Chapter 5). This chapter also shows you how to use subprogram and state memory, the input buffer, and the status
register.
Chapter 4 Making Measurements
This chapter discusses the methods for triggering measurements, discusses the reading formats, shows how to use reading
memory, and how to transfer readings across the GPIB bus. This chapter also discusses how to increase the reading rate,
how to use the multimeter's EXTOUT signal, and how to use the math operations.
Chapter 5 Digitizing
Digitizing is the process of converting a continuous analog signal into a series of discrete samples (readings). This chapter
discusses the various ways to digitize signals, the importance of the sampling rate, and how to use level triggering.
Chapter 6 Command Reference
This chapter discusses the multimeter's language (HPML) and contains detailed descriptions of each command in the
language. Commands are listed in alphabetical order.
Chapter 7 BASIC Programming Language
This chapter describes the BASIC commands supported by the 3458A's internal BASIC language operating system. With
this feature, many of your special requirements can be easily satisfied by writing and downloading a simple BASIC
subprogram to customize the multimeter's behavior.
Appendices
The appendices contain the multimeter's specifications, information on the GPIB commands recognized by the multimeter,
information on locking-out the front/rear terminals switch, and contains product notes concerning digitizing and
maximizing the multimeter's reading rate and throughput.
5