Designing an interface for a Yokogawa CW240 Power Analyzer

[Dhouston]

Hello all.  We have a Yokogawa CW240 Power Analyzer.  We would like to be able to view data from the device, and also use the device features remotely, so we hoped to use Labview to do this.  The analyzer has a 9-pin serial connection as its communication port.  Our plan was to use a Serial-to-Ethernet adapter to link the analyzer to our Ethernet HUB.  Then we could access the analyzer on our PCs located in a different room. 

So naturally comes the smorgesboard of problems.  First off, there are no device drivers for this instrument--neither Yokogawa nor National Instruments has any. 

NI Support had several options for us:  1.  Use the VISA and NI-Serial functions.  2.  Get an OPC driver, which I forgot what this was for.  3.  Something called an OLE Process Control. 

Now as I still a novice with Labview, I have seen VISA functions in action, but have personally not used them.  This may be the route I have to take, but can anyone provide any tips on how to use these functions to communicate with this device, if possible?  Any other advice is most welcome too.

I will definitely look into the other two options, although I can tell you just the names confuse the heck out of me.

We have Labview 2010, by the way.

[Dennis_Knutson]

I fail to see how you can use opc for control. VISA allows for tcp/ip and serial connections. If your adapter appears as a com port, you would just use VISA serial functions. NI-Serial is a driver for NI's USB-RS232 adapters so you would not need that.

Look at the tutorials at http://www.ni.com/white-paper/4359/en/ and the links on the main instrument control page - http://www.ni.com/downloads/instrument-drivers/

[Dhouston]

Wow, lots of information here!  One additional question.  Since I am using adapters, do I have to design my interface to communicate with the adapter and the device, or just the device?

The CW240 has a serial connection.  We are using a Lantronix xDirect serial-to-ethernet adapter.  So do I need to code for the adapter as well as the CW240, or just the CW240?

I was able to ping the adapter, but could not seem to see anything beyond it.

[Dennis_Knutson]

I'm not familiar with the Lantronix. Check with directly to see how it might be used with a terminal emulator program such as Hyperterminal or Putty. If you just have to specify a com port, you just need to learn the CW240 programming.