HP 70950a OSA

[Karin_P]

Hi

I want to extract data from my HP 70950a Optical Spectrum Analyzer (OSA). I'm not quite sure how to proceed with this, but what I found out (http://forums.ni.com/t5/Instrument-Control-GPIB-Serial/hp-70950a-osa-and-8163a-multimeter/td-p/11018... was that there are no drivers for this, so I need to do it "manually". In the VISA Interactive Control I have chosen GRIB0, and in the GRIB-control I have tried executing

OUTPUT\s723;"CENTERWL\s1300NM;SPANWL\s10NM;RL\s-5DBM;"\sSet\smeasurement\srange

as a test. It says "No error", but doesn't change the wavelength on the OSA. Does anybody have any experience with getting data from the device?

Best,

Karin.

[Curt_C]

Hi,

Try updating the trace with the single sweep mode "SNGLS" or single sweep "TS" command or both.

and try the commands without "\s", just leave a space

Curt

[Karin_P]

Hi

Thanks for helping. It still says "No error", though, without doing anything. I'm not sure if I am doing it correctly, but I am Executing the commands in the GPIB contol of the VISA Interactive Control.

Best,

Karin.

[Curt_C]

Are you using an NI GPIB card?

[Karin_P]

Yes, this is it: http://sine.ni.com/psp/app/doc/p/id/psp-290/lang/en

And here is the cable I am using: http://www.iowa-industrial.com/Western-Iowa-/Backflow-and-Plumbing-Related-/Commercial-and-industria...

Best,

Karin.

[Curt_C]

Hi Karin,

Open up the NI-MAX application. It should be on your desktop. Select the GPIB0 card under devices and interfaces.

Click 'Scan for Instruments' and when your OSA shows up in the device list, click on it and then

click the 'Communicate with Instrument'

Click NI-Spy to start the spy app and when that starts goto menu Spy->Start Capture

Enter your commands, one at a time in the communicate window and see if you're OSA responds correctly

Hope this helps

Curt

[Karin_P]

Thanks, that's very kind of you. I'm not in the lab at the moment, but I'll try it our tomorrow, I'll make sure to check back!

Best,

Karin.

[Dennis_Knutson]

You aren't really including "OUTPUT\s723;"" in the  text of the interactive control, are you? That would be silly.

[Karin_P]

I did at first (silly, yes!), but I have also tried without.

Best,

Karin.

[Karin_P]

Thanks, now I can change the wavelength span and center by the above commands. However,

 I am still not sure how to do something like this (taken from the OSA manual):

10 CLEAR 723 Initialize analyzer.
20 OUTPUT 723;"IP;SNGLS;TS;"
30 OUTPUT 723;"CENTERWL 1300NM;SPANWL 10NM;RL -5DBM;" Set measurement range.
40 OUTPUT 723;"TS;" Sweep trace A.
50 OUTPUT 723;"MKPK HI;" Mark highest signal level.
60 OUTPUT 723;"MKWL?;" Return wavelength at marker.
70 ENTER 723;W Assign wavelength to computer variable.
80 OUTPUT 723;"MKA?;" Return amplitude at marker.
90 ENTER 723;A Assign amplitude to computer variable.
100 W=W/1.E-9 Convert wavelength from meters to nanometers.
110 PRINT W,A Print values.

Where can I write scripts like this, and execute them?

Thanks for all your help so far.

Best,

Karin.