Igor LAN driver

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I'm new to Igor and I wish to communicate with my scope using LAN. Does anyone know what the LAN drivers are?
For example, in the follwing code, we have "GPIBwrite", is there anything like "LANwrite" or something? Thank you very much for your help!

Function SetN5181AFreq(freq)
//This command sets the frequency of a given band (f1, f2, f3, etc.)

variable freq
NVAR Wil9=Wil9

string cmd
sprintf cmd,"GPIB device %d", Wil9
execute cmd
sprintf cmd, "GPIBwrite/F=\"SOUR:Freq:CW %fGHz\"", freq
execute cmd
end
There is an Igor XOP called "VISA XOP" that communicates with instruments
using the "VISA" protocol. VISA libraries are available from National
Instruments, Tektronix and Agilent. The VISA protocol can communicate via
serial port, GPIB, USB and TCP/IP. So it is possible that you could drive
your scope using VISA XOP. You might ask the scope manufacturer whether it
is VISA-compatible.

For further information, read the VISA Help file at "C:\Program
Files\WaveMetrics\Igor Pro Folder\More Extensions\Data Acquisition\VISA XOP
Help.ihf".

May 24, 2009 at 07:11 pm - Permalink

You should have little difficulty in controlling or reading from a VISA-enabled scope with Igor. I was able to do this with two very different models of Tektronix scopes with minimal code changes. See Howard's suggestions above.

I found the Tek support to be of high quality, and very helpful in getting started with the scope setup (setting IP adresses, pinging to confirm operation, etc.). In addition to the Tek VISA library, there is also an additional Tek utility which gives real-time echoing of all VISA communication to/from the scope. I also recommend examining the methodology of the Igor GPIB commands; use of the VISA commands is not too different.

If you are using a dedicated, direct LAN connection to the scope (without a network), you will need a cross-over Ethernet cable.

Stephen R. Chinn

May 26, 2009 at 05:45 am - Permalink