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Hi Ernst,

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Using the 5350B series meters is not simple with GPIB at first glance. But you have to follow a small procedure:

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You must put the meter in HOLD mode to begin.

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- Press the SET key

- Press the SAMPLE RATE button

- With the LEFT arrow, move the cursor to the HOLD position on the left.

- Go to Connection Expert (I used USB-GPIB interface 82357B).

- In the menu on the left, choose the interface to which your 5350B is connected.

- Choose ADD and GPIB INSTRUMENT

- Choose the GPIB address corresponding to your 5350B (example GPIB0 and primary address 14)

- Uncheck AUTO IDENTIFY

- press on OK

- The instrument should appear in the list with the name UNKNOW and the address GPIB0::14::INSTR for this example.

- You will not be able to test with Connection Expert, however this will allow using a program to communicate if you add the following two VISA commands, allowing you to complete a reading with the LINEFEED character. In the example, these are two commands used in vb.net.

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errorStatus = visa32.viSetAttribute(vi5351B, VI_ATTR_TERMCHAR_EN, 1)

errorStatus = visa32.viSetAttribute(vi5351B, VI_ATTR_TERMCHAR, 10)

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If you use a GPIB interface from National Instruments, such as GPIB-USB-B or PCI-NI-GPIB for example, it will be possible to communicate with the instrument if you add the two options (Configure EOS):

- Enable "Terminate READ on EOS"

- EOS byte=10

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I wrote a small program to test the sensitivity of the 535xB meters a few weeks ago.

I modified it to allow only 10 consecutive readings on input 1 or input 2 (terminated 50 Ohms).

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The image shows you the result of a 300 MHz -20dBm signal at input 2.

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If you can't test GPIB communication, I will send you this little program for you to try.

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Yves

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Hello,
my HBIB system works with 8568B spectrum anaylyzer, 8970A, 34401A and others.

However I fail to connect a 5350B to my system. Diag 80 (HPIB diagnosis) shows no errors. Also tried ddifferent HPIB cables with no change.
The counter is not found with Keysight Connection Expert. I get an VISA BFFF0012 error when I try to connect within WinGPIO software.

Before digging into the hardware of the HPIB interface within the counter, I assume that VISA is not working with "old" test equipment, as I have same problem with 5343A counter.

Is there workaround? Any ideas are appreciated.

Regards Ernst

Hi Ernst,

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To follow up on the last email I sent you, here is a basic example in Python.

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However, you must activate the Keysight-NI-488-2 compatibility option in Connection Expert.

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Yves

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Hello Yves_Tardif,
unfortunately my initial answer bounced from the email address you sent me your program.
Thanks for your program. The 5350B is really a weird beast!
I made some initial tests on friday following your instructions. At first not working. Had to remove checkmark in Keysight Communicator -> Settings -> "Enable Keysight GPIB cards for 488 programs". Now it worked, but some measurements showed "0".

Over the weekend I was busy with other obligations. So I tried again today with no success. Hitting "Stop" did not work so I could not select Input 2.
Input 1 not working because of fried sampler. This was the reason the counter was donated to me.

Regards Ernst?

Hi Ernst, yes, I received your last email, I will return an answer today with a link for modified program…yesterday was too busy.

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Python 3.10.0

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Yves

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Hello Yves,
thanks for the code. Looks pretty simple and understandable to me. Which version of python are you using?
Did you receive my email sent on thursday ? Otherwise please give me an alternative mail address. I desribed my experience with your latest program version.

Have a nice weekend.

Ernst