KEPCO BHK-MG VISA User Manual

TECHNICAL MANUAL

BHK-MG 200 WATT (FULL RACK)

KEPCO INC.

An ISO 9001 Company.

BHK-MG 40 WATT (1/2 RACK)

VISA INSTRUMENT DRIVER

MODEL

BHK-MG

VISA INSTRUMENT DRIVER

ORDER NO. REV. NO.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1) This manual is valid for the following Model and associated serial numbers:

MODEL SERIAL NO. REV. NO.

2) A Change Page may be included at the end of the manual. All applicable changes and
revision number changes are documented with reference to the equipment serial num­bers. Before using this Instruction Manual, check your equipment serial number to identify
your model. If in doubt, contact your nearest Kepco Representative, or the Kepco Docu­mentation Office in New York, [phone], requesting the correct revision for your par­ticular model and serial number.

3) The contents of this manual are protected by copyright. Reproduction of any part can be
made only with the specific written permission of Kepco, Inc.

Data subject to change without notice.

KEPCO®

©200, KEPCO, INC
P/N 243-1089

KEPCO, INC. ! 131-38 SANFORD AVENUE ! FLUSHING, NY. 11352 U.S.A. ! TEL [phone] ! FAX [phone]

email: [e-mail] ! World Wide Web: http://www.kepcopower.com

THE POWER SUPPLIER™

BHK-MG 200 WATT (FULL RACK) AND 40 WATT (1/2 RACK)

VISA INSTRUMENT DRIVER

The VISA instrument driver supplied with the BHK-MG 200 Watt (Full Rack) and 40 Watt (1/2 Rack) Power
Supply is provided to simplify programming with a VISA compatible GPIB controller. The latest driver can
be downloaded from the Kepco website (http://www.kepcopower.com/drivers.htm). The driver includes the
source code (C) for all VISA functions (kp_BHK.c).

Since the software drivers supplied by Kepco are VISA compliant, they require the installation of the proper
VISA driver from your GPIB card supplier. The Kepco website (http://www.kepcopower.com/drivers.htm)
provides links to various vendor sites for these drivers.

1. VISA INSTRUMENT DRIVER FUNCTIONS

Kepco’s BHK-MG VISA instrument driver provides programming support for Kepco’s BHK-MG 40 Watt (1/2
Rack) Series Power Supplies (VISA I/O). It contains functions for opening, configuring, taking measure­ments from, test, calibration and closing the instrument. To successfully use this module, the instrument
must be connected to the GPIB and the GPIB address supplied to the initialize function must match the
GPIB address of the instrument.

Table 1 lists the functions that are available.

TABLE 1. BHK-MG VISA DRIVER FUNCTIONS

Purpose Function Name Description

INITIALIZE FUNCTION

Initialize KpBhk_init Initializes the instrument and sets it to a default configuration.

APPLICATION FUNCTIONS — This class of functions contains high-level test and measurement routines. These functions call
other instrument driver functions to configure, start, and get readings from the instrument.

Set and Measure KpBhk_ApplicSetMeas Used to either set and read back, or just read back the output voltage,

current and operating mode of the power supply

Get/Set Memory Value KpBhk_GetSetListValue This function can either get or set the values stored in any one of the 40

CONFIGURATION FUNCTIONS — This class of functions configures the instrument by setting system configuration parameters.

Get Current Range KpBhk_getCurrRange FULL RACK units only. Gets the current range:

Set Current Range KpBhk_setCurrRange FULL RACK units only. Sets the current range:

Set Maximum Limit
Val ue

Get Maximum Limit
Val ue

Get Minimum or Maxi­mum Value

KpBhk_SetMaxLimValue Sets the temporary voltage limit or current limit of the power supply.

KpBhk_GetMaxLimValue Gets the maximum limit value of the power supply.

KpBhk_GetMinMaxValue Gets the minimum or the maximum output voltage, output current,

available memory locations. Six parameter values can be stored in any
one of the 40 locations: voltage level, current level, overvoltage level,
overcurrent level, duration of the setting (if used in a program) and next
memory address (if used in a program). Depending on the slide selec­tion position, and the value of get/set switch, one of these values is
read or set. The values are checked against the maximum acceptable
values for the corresponding power supply.

1 = High range, 0 = Low range

1 = High range, 0 = Low range

The limit reduces the output range of the power supply. For example,
the output voltage range of a 0 to 10V power supply can be limited to
the range of 0 to 5.25V by setting the voltage limit to 5.25V.

overvoltage level, or overcurrent level of the power supply depending
on the min_max switch and slide selection position.

BHK-MG-VISA 010906 3

TABLE 1. BHK-MG VISA DRIVER FUNCTIONS (CONTINUED)

Purpose Function Name Description

Set Trigger Voltage and
Current

Set Trigger Value KpBhk_SetTrigValue Sets the trigger voltage or trigger current level, depending on the switch

Get Trigger Value KpBhk_GetTrigValue Gets the trigger voltage or the trigger current level, depending on the

Set Overvoltage and
Overcurrent

Set Protection Delay KpBhk_setProtDelay Sets the protection delay: the delay between the moment the output

Get Protection Delay KpBhk_getProtDelay Displays the protection delay count for the power supply. A count of 30

ACTION/STATUS FUNCTIONS — This class of functions executes commands and queries. It also provides functions which allow
the user to determine the current status of the instrument.

Set Voltage and Current KpBhk_Set_Volt_Curr Sets the output voltage and current at the same time.

Set Value KpBhk_SetValue Sets the output voltage, the output current, the overvoltage level, or the

Get Value KpBhk_GetValue Gets the output voltage, the output current, the overvoltage level, or the

Trigger KpBhk_Trig Triggers the instrument once. The output will go to the trigger voltage

Measure Output Value KpBhk_MeasValue Measures the value of output voltage or current depending on the

Get Source Mode KpBhk_GetSourceMode Gets the operating mode of the power supply.

Output On/Off KpBhk_OutputOnOff Sets the output on or off.

Get Output Status KpBhk_getOutputState Returns the output status (on or off).

Get Current Range KpBhk_getCurrRange Gets the operating current range of the power supply.

Set Current Range KpBhk_setCurrRange Sets the operating current range of the power supply

Abort Measurement KpBhk_abortMeas Sends the abort command.

Beep KpBhk_beep The selected BHK-MG power supply will emit a beep.

DATA FUNCTIONS — This class of functions transfers data to or from the instrument.

Questionable Data KpBhk_StatQues Tests for questionable data, then gets the condition.

Run/Stop LIST Program KpBhk_Prog Sends a RUN or STOP LIST program command.

Get Status of LIST Pro­gram

Send Direction of LIST
Program

Send Loop Count of
LIST Program

KpBhk_SetTrig_Volt_Curr Sets the trigger voltage and trigger current at the same time

position.

switch position.

KpBhk_Set_OVvolt_OVcurr Sets both the overvoltage and overcurrent values.

voltage and current are changed and the moment the overvoltage and
overcurrent protections are enabled.

represent ~ 1 second. The protection delay is the delay between the
moment the output voltage and current are changed and the moment
the overvoltage and overcurrent protections are enabled.

overcurrent level of the power supply, depending on the slide selection
position. The values are checked against the maximum acceptable val­ues for the corresponding power supply.

overcurrent level of the power supply depending on slide selection
position.

and current values.

switch position.

KpBhk_Prog_Stat Gets status of program: 0 = stopped, 1 = running

KpBhk_Prog_Dir Sends direction to run LIST program (UP or DOWN). Does NOT apply

to 40-step LIST programs available from front panel.

KpBhk_Prog_Count Sends loop count value - how many times the LIST program will run.

Value of 0 = run continuous. Does NOT apply to 40-step LIST pro­grams available from front panel.

4 BHK-MG-VISA 010906

TABLE 1. BHK-MG VISA DRIVER FUNCTIONS (CONTINUED)

Purpose Function Name Description

Send Loop Count Skip
Value of LIST Program

Save/Recall Settings KpBhk_SaveRecSet Saves the current settings to the selected memory location or restores

UTILITY FUNCTIONS — This class of functions provides lower level functions to communicate with the instrument and to change
instrument parameters.

Identify Power Supply KpBhk_identify Returns the full message returned by the power supply to the *IDN?

Revision Query KpBhk_RevisionQuery Returns the revision numbers of the instrument driver and instrument

Model Query KpBhk_ModelQuery Return the model number of the BHK-MG power supply.

Serial Number Query KpBhk_SerialnQuery Returns the serial number of the BHK-MG power supply. The serial

Query SCPI Version KpBhk_GetScpiVersion Returns the power supply answer to the Query SCPI Version com-

Set/Reset Keypad Lock KpBhk_setResetKeybLock Locks or unlocks keypad operation. Used to prevent changing the set-

Keypad Lock Status KpBhk_keybLockStat Return the status of the local keypad access: 0 if local access enabled;

Display Text KpBhk_display Configures the front panel display of the instrument. In normal mode

Get Display Text KpBhk_getDisplay Gets the string which is displayed on the second line of the display.

Get Display Contrast KpBhk_getContrast Gets the contrast value of the front panel display of the instrument

Set Display Contrast KpBhk_setContrast Configures the contrast of front panel display of the instrument (value

Write To Instrument KpBhk_writeInstrData This function writes commands and queries to the instrument to modify

Read Instrument Data KpBhk_readInstrData This function reads data from the instrument's output buffer and returns

Reset KpBhk_psReset Resets the instrument to a known state and sends initialization com-

Self-Test KpBhk_selfTest Runs the instrument's self test routine and returns the test result(s).

Error-Query KpBhk_errorQuery Reads an error code from the instrument's error queue.

Error Message KpBhk_errorMessage Takes the Status Code returned by the instrument driver functions,

KpBhk_Prog_Count_Skip Sends skip value used after first pass through LIST program. Repre-

sents loop-back point from which program will be repeated after the
first pass through.

previously stored settings from a memory location. The memory loca­tion range is from 1 to 40.

query. This message contains four fields: manufacturer, power supply
type, serial number and firmware version.

firmware version from the *idn? query. This instrument driver's Revision
Number is "Rev 1.0, 9/95, CVI 3.1" and the BHK-MG firmware version
is Firmware Version "1.0". This data is necessary when requesting
technical support.

number is extracted from the answer to the *idn? query.

mand. Checks the Standard Commands for Programmable Instru­ments (SCPI) language version.

tings of the power supply from the local keypad.

1 if local access is disabled.

the values measured at the output of the power supply are displayed.
In text mode a user defined string can be displayed on the second row
of the display.

(between 0.1 and 0.9).

between 0.1 and 0.9).

parameters and query device settings.

it to the specified variable in memory. Because the instrument may
return both numeric and text data in response to queries, this function
returns the data in string format. NOTE: If valid data is not available at
the instrument's output buffer when this function is called, the instru­ment will hang up and the function will not return until it times out. If the
time-out is disabled,` this function will hang indefinitely and it may be
necessary to reboot the computer to break out.

mands to the instrument.

interprets it and returns it as a user readable string.

BHK-MG-VISA 010906 5