Interface HP/Agilent 4145 with PC

[Dennis_Knutson]

HPIB and GPIB are exactly the same thing. Hewlett-Packard invented the communications protocol and it was originally called HPIB (Hewlett-Packard Instrument Bus). When it was standardized by the IEEE, it became known as the GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus). The only people that call it HPIB now are HP or Agilent employees. HP and NI make controller cards that conform to the same standards and I think that if the NI card cannot detect the instrument, a controller card from HP will not work any differently. Per your description, the instrument prevents any other instrument from being detected. That is not normal and as I said, indicates a bad GPIB interface on the 4145.

[Suchit Shah]

Thanks a lot.

That seems to be quite convincing reason.

Thank you.

[lxhissp]

I have the same question with you! I can not find 4145 with MAX too. How can we solve it?

[Suchit · Accepted solution]

Hey I figured out. For me, the problem was changing the settings with HPIB Control Switch. There is a control switch at rear end of HP 4145 and when I received the instrument (e-bay product) someone had changed the control settings. So go through the manual and change the switches accordingly. You should be able to connnect and program Agilen/HP Semiconductor Analyzer normally.

Regards,

SUCHIT

[lxhissp]

Thanks a lot. According to your suggestion. The control switch of my 4145 is 10001(A1-A5), which is the same with the manual. Is the GPIB address 17 in this case? Is it necessary to start the instrument correctly with driver floppy? Meanwhile, I can't find this instrument with MAX too.

    My email address is lxhissp@gmail.com.  Would you mind contacting with me ?

[Suchit]

The default GPIB address is 17. You do not need floppy drive to boot the instrument.  Make sure your GPIB cable and NI PCI Card on your pc are working properly and you are able to detect other instruments. Do not connect HP 4145 in star connection if your are interfacing more than one instrument through GPIB. Let me know if you are still stuck with problem and not able to detect Agilen/HP using Measurement & Automation Explorer.

[lxhissp]

Dear Shah

         I am sure my GPIB cable and NI 488 card are working properly, because it can control other instrument properly(Keithley current source 220). When I use NI488 card to control 4145, I remove all other instruments. In this way, I still can not detect it Agilen/HP using Measurement & Automation Explorer.

        Thanks

[Burban]

lxhissp,

Are the 6th and 7th bits, the delimiter and the EOI enable, set to off on the HPIB control switch?  Have you tried enabling them and using MAX to set up using an EOI byte?

[kobil123]

I have the same problem, MAX cannot detect HP4145 instrument. What should I look for? Any special drivers etc.?

[Matt.M]

Hello,

I recommend following the different steps that were listed above.  The solution to the previous person's problem was that their control switch wasn't setup properly.  You might want to go through the manual and make sure all the switches are correct for your application.  If your GPIB device is communicating successfully with other instruments, and not with the 4145, it is probably the instrument, and you might want to verify that it is working correctly.  Have you tried sending *IDN? through test panels to the device to see if you can get an identity response?

Regards,

Matt