At the end of the day, from what I see I'm sure that Keysight could sell a lot more 'Pro' modules if the price was closer to $300 to $400 than the $700+ as it is now.
Also, don't forget that the availability of a decently priced test software can be a great marketing tool.
One thing I'd like to see in BV is synchronized acquisition/display of multiple instruments (DMMs in my case), i.e. having the same time base / x axis and two curves on the y axis instead of having different fully independent windows.
Although you can't get one graph in BenchVue, you can now synchronize multiple DMMs by using the vastly improved Digitizer option in the DMM Pro app. Using external trigger, it is easy to set up multiple DMMs to capture various signals at the exact same time. Use "Export All" to put exported data from all DMMs into a single Excel spreadsheet, one DMM per tab. Each DMM will have the same timestamps, all relative to 0 instead of time of day as before. This makes it easy to cut and paste the data columns from all tabs into one, then use Excel's standard charting feature to get them all on one graph. I've made a video showing how to do this, available on Dropbox at:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/232v7ecojkyntne/two_dmm_digi.mp4?dl=0
And by the way, the video shows how to use multiple external triggers and 1 Sample/trigger, so that two completely different DMMs with different internal sample rates can be synchronized. This requires another instrument to generate the triggers. I used a 33521 as a pulse generator for this. If precise timing is not required, you can instead use the VM Complete output out of one to trigger the other, making the data for the 2nd DMM off by one measurement period. If you have two identical DMMs, such as two 34465As, you can use a single external trigger and then change the sample count (and sample interval) to gather the data. The sample subsystem can be run faster than the trigger subsystem, but both modes are now available to you.
Brian
Another alternative solution might be of interest to those reading this thread as well. Using the Test Flow app, you can easily have two DMM readings one after another. While this isn't truly time synchronized (the readings will be offset by the time it takes the first DMM to take a reading) it might be a solution for those who are not as sensitive to time.
In the attached image I created a simple sequence that sweeps a function generator output from 1Vpp to 5Vpp (so a loop is created for 5 measurements). You can see the sequence on the left hand side of the image. I then placed two DMM readings inside of the loop.
On the right hand side, we now see a visual representation of the data and sweep. The line colors on the graph match the block colors in the sequence. You can see that this is all on the same X axis. The Y axis is variable depending on the graph so we do not show Y axis values unless you mouse over the points. The table below the graph shows the data points with a gross timestamp. Both the graph or table data can be exported.
Time it took to create this? About 60 seconds.
~David
At the end of the day, from what I see I'm sure that Keysight could sell a lot more 'Pro' modules if the price was closer to $300 to $400 than the $700+ as it is now.
Also, don't forget that the availability of a decently priced test software can be a great marketing tool.
Wuerstchenhund, I know that Jeff addressed this but I wanted to chime in too on the pricing subject since price ranges were mentioned for the Pro versions of the apps.
The Pro upgrades for the DMM and Power supply apps are $200 and $150. Other Pro upgrade licenses range up to $500, with an exception for the Function Generator Pro license which is up there at $750. I'm not saying that these prices are better than the free value that the base apps provide, but not all are up in the $700 range.
~David
At the end of the day, from what I see I'm sure that Keysight could sell a lot more 'Pro' modules if the price was closer to $300 to $400 than the $700+ as it is now.
Also, don't forget that the availability of a decently priced test software can be a great marketing tool.
Wuerstchenhund, I know that Jeff addressed this but I wanted to chime in too on the pricing subject since price ranges were mentioned for the Pro versions of the apps.
The Pro upgrades for the DMM and Power supply apps are $200 and $150. Other Pro upgrade licenses range up to $500, with an exception for the Function Generator Pro license which is up there at $750. I'm not saying that these prices are better than the free value that the base apps provide, but not all are up in the $700 range.
~David
Since I mentioned the high cost of the benchlink waveform PRO software, why is it so expensive? I have a 33250A and it would be nice to easily create ARB waveforms for some of my test cases, but the trial mode is very brain dead. I can't justify $750+ to enable a few more editing features that would make the application useful. I'm sure there are a whole suite of wonderful things the PRO paid version provides, but what I need is just an easy way to create ARB waveforms without spending a ton of money beyond what a 33250A already cost.
The trial version essentially makes the benchlink waveform program useless for any real work and I'm left creating various pulse waveforms on the front panel of the function generator.
I could see charging a fee to enable all the automation features, since those are typically what a larger company needs to automate various tests, but for us small guys it would be real nice to enable all the waveform features so creating/downloading ARB waveforms is easy.
cheers,
george.
Thank you George for coming back to this subject. I was following up with some colleagues before replying. While there are no plans to change the pricing of the Function Generator Pro/Waveform builder, I do have a solution that might be of use to you and others reading this thread.
Command Expert (CE) is another no cost software product from Keysight. At it's heart it helps with easy programming of SCPI commands to instruments. There are also plug-ins that you can use to integrate CE into programs like Excel. With the Excel plug-in you can create your arb in the Excel cells and use CE to upload your arb into your 33250A. By using the powerful Excel equation tools you can generate your own custom arbs for upload.
www.keysight.com/find/commandexpert
~David
If we're on the subject of equipment support, is there any chance it'll ever be able to download data from my HP 4395A network analyser?
(Long shot, I know, but it would be really worthwhile... not sure how much longer it'll be physically possible to use floppy discs to get data off it!)I would not shell up £1400 for a data transfer software... but have you tried out the free (as in gratis) VNA utility from John Miles? Works like charm and I use it for both the 8753 and 8510 and a NI GPIB-to-USB dongle. www.ke5fx.com Could not be simpler
Somehow I can't find the download link for the Linux version...
Yearly renewable license.
One minor (?) issue. The software seems to be very profligate of pixels - great big borders, massive icons, big chunky title boxes etc. It looks great on the big monitors used for the screenshots & brochures, but typically I only have room on my already crowded bench for a small monitor. This means the information density of BenchVue screens is poor. Would it be possible to implement a re-skinnable UI, with maybe some skinnier skins for tiny monitors?
To state this in a separate post, I'd really like to see the low-speed digitizing function available on the 34461A also made available on the 34465A without the DIG option. It makes no sense for that function to not be available just because the DIG option is not there. The 34465A is a superset of the 34461A, so why would that function not be available?
It was that way on BV2. On BV3, I don't know (BV3 on 34465A without DIG is broken so who knows whether that is still an issue), but I would certainly like to see this fixed.
You can also use the "Report an Issue" option in the gear icon to zip up log files and add comments or ask for help. All such emails go to me and I respond to every one as fast as I can.
Somehow I can't find the download link for the Linux version...Here, let's try it it as a question since they are inviting any and all...
BenchVue Team: When will the Linux version be available?
On that note: Is anyone running Benchvue from Virtualbox? It would be nice if I know it works or not before trying...
I can't see pricing for the Apps in Australian dollars, hopefully that will propagate through and not require quotes. But reading through the BV3 manual about the test flow:QuoteYearly renewable license.Is the renewal required to continue running the test flows? Or just for creation of them? How do you plan for people to develop and then deploy tests using this flow?
Wuerstchenhund, I know that Jeff addressed this but I wanted to chime in too on the pricing subject since price ranges were mentioned for the Pro versions of the apps.
The Pro upgrades for the DMM and Power supply apps are $200 and $150. Other Pro upgrade licenses range up to $500, with an exception for the Function Generator Pro license which is up there at $750. I'm not saying that these prices are better than the free value that the base apps provide, but not all are up in the $700 range.
Somehow I can't find the download link for the Linux version...On that note: Is anyone running Benchvue from Virtualbox? It would be nice if I know it works or not before trying...
I can't see pricing for the Apps in Australian dollars, hopefully that will propagate through and not require quotes. But reading through the BV3 manual about the test flow:QuoteYearly renewable license.Is the renewal required to continue running the test flows? Or just for creation of them? How do you plan for people to develop and then deploy tests using this flow?
Greetings! The Test Flow license enables use with live instruments. Users may create and share the .bvseq files (our clever acronym for BenchVue sequences) without the license. But in order to work with a real instrument on your bench, the license is needed.
If anyone is interested in trying Test Flow without purchasing it, for a limited time we enabled a generous 90 day trial period for Test Flow. This will get you full access to Test Flow to try out, learn, and hopefully fall in love with. We really do believe that it will enable you to do your work a lot quicker with no programming. Don't forget that we have a Test Flow playlist on Youtube, its posted on the first post of this EEVBlog topic.
To enable your 90 day trial, you can go to the Apps tab (at the very top center) in BenchVue, then click on the Test Flow icon. Once the description page opens there should be a button to start your trial.
~David
Hey EEVBlog members! We’re part of the Keysight BenchVue team and we are here to answer your questions on BenchVue. We’ll be monitoring this thread to answer your questions. Ask us anything!
Regards,
David
Brian
Jeff
Benchvue Team:
Ok, I've installed the Command Expert and have Excel 2013 showing a command expert button. I click on it and then click on Create Sequence and it brings up command expert. I can then connect to my 33250A and it displays a mostly blank worksheet in Excel. It's not clear at all what I do next.
Are there any canned example work sheets I can download (for the 33250A)? How do I enter in values/voltages etc to control my 33250A.
The whole experience at this point is very poor and I'm glad this piece of software is free since I'd be demanding a refund if I'd actually had to purchase it. Very unfriendly interface.
Please help explain or point me to where I can actually learn how to get an ARB waveform going.
thanks,
george.
My biggest complaint about BenchVue is the large amount of overhead driven by the use of .NET. I realize the virtue in using it as a lot of higher-level functionality comes for free, but it nearly demands a dedicated CPU which seems silly to me. If there is any way to pare down the CPU load, that would be appreciated.
I also still dislike the inability to leave a log file list persistently sorted. I prefer having the newest logs at the top of the list, but by default newest goes to the bottom. This seems like a trivial gripe until one must sort through many many files or reset the sort each time.