HP54645D print screen via RS232

[Rémi]

Hello,

I'm trying to capture the screen of my HP54645D oscilloscope. The oscilloscope is connected to my computer (win 7) using a serial to USB adapter that I bought (apparently the adapter is constructed around a PL2303TA chip). The driver of the adapter is installed and visible in the Device Manager (I've determined the COM port using that). I've tried to run hyperterminal et putty to get the data but I had no success. I've checked with another oscilloscope and there is data going out of the TX pin of the oscilloscope.

I've setup the oscilloscope capture settings as follow :
Format : Plotter
Factors : ON
Colors : 2
Baud rate : 19200
Handshake : DTR

I'm using the same settings in hyperterminal & Putty but I wasn't able to retrieve data. I'm not familiar with Hyperterminal or Putty so maybe something is wrong in the settings.

Thanks a lot if you can help

Rémi

[free_electron]

You will need a fully wired serial port for that. set handshake to off or xon/xoff
the scope will want to see a handshape from a real plotter and possibly will ask the plotter information . if nothing is sent to the scope it will not start transmission.

switch the handshake off.

there is a plotter emulator program out ther that emulates a HP7550 plotter

http://www.aphena.com/pltgeist/pltgeist.htm
http://www.ke5fx.com/gpib/7470.htm
http://www.printcapture.com/details.html

[Rémi]

You will need a fully wired serial port for that. set handshake to off or xon/xoff
the scope will want to see a handshape from a real plotter and possibly will ask the plotter information . if nothing is sent to the scope it will not start transmission.

switch the handshake off.

there is a plotter emulator program out ther that emulates a HP7550 plotter

http://www.aphena.com/pltgeist/pltgeist.htm
http://www.ke5fx.com/gpib/7470.htm
http://www.printcapture.com/details.html

Thanks for your answer. The plotter emulator program is not cheap Regarding the ke5x and PrintCapture program, they work with GPIB.
I tried with the handshake set to xon/xoff and to off but still no luck

[elecman14]

The ke5fx program works with RS232 and is free. It just needs a few config files tweaked to get it to work. You have to tell it to speak RS232 instead of GPIB. Their are multiple config files, I just changed all of them from the start. Not sure which one the program actually looks at.

Since you say you see signals on the TX pin from the scope you might want to verify you USB to RS232 adapter is working by creating a loopback. With this connected text sent out should appear coming back in a serial terminal. With it disconnected sent text should not appear. Assuming your terminal does not echo.

[Rémi]

The ke5fx program works with RS232 and is free. It just needs a few config files tweaked to get it to work. You have to tell it to speak RS232 instead of GPIB. Their are multiple config files, I just changed all of them from the start. Not sure which one the program actually looks at.

Since you say you see signals on the TX pin from the scope you might want to verify you USB to RS232 adapter is working by creating a loopback. With this connected text sent out should appear coming back in a serial terminal. With it disconnected sent text should not appear. Assuming your terminal does not echo.

Thank you, I will try that. I need to modify the file default_connect.ini where the line starts by "interface_settings" ?

[elecman14]

I modified the default_connect.ini and the with this:

;----------------------------------------------------------------------

;interface_settings  GPIB0
interface_settings  com3:baud=19200 parity=N data=8 stop=1

;----------------------------------------------------------------------

and the serial.ini with this (not 100% sure it was not like this or is needed)

serial_device      COM3:baud=115200 parity=N data=8 stop=1

Also make sure your scope is in "DTR" mode to disable handshakeing

[texaspyro]

The ke5fx program works with RS232 and is free. It just needs a few config files tweaked to get it to work. You have to tell it to speak RS232 instead of GPIB. Their are multiple config files, I just changed all of them from the start. Not sure which one the program actually looks at.

I'm rather fond of the KE5FX 7470 plotter program.   I wrote the HPGL/2 (and PCL) renderer that it now uses.  That renderer was originally written for my ATMEGA 2561 single board computer with a 160x80 LCD touch screen and also is used in my program that is a swiss army knife for manipulating CNC files.   The 2561 board has code that emulates a Prologix GPIB <> serial adapter.  It's kind of cute seeing an instrument screen dump on a 160x80 monochrome screen.

VERY few programs programs (including some rather expensive commercial ones) properly/consistently render HPGL files.  The best free program came out of CERN (http://service-hpglview.web.cern.ch/service-hpglview/hpglviewer.html), but it is not designed to work with live data streaming from a device.  It has a few bugs (like handling HPGL comments) but implements more of the fancy features of HPGL2.

[Rémi]

I modified the default_connect.ini and the with this:

;----------------------------------------------------------------------

;interface_settings  GPIB0
interface_settings  com3:baud=19200 parity=N data=8 stop=1

;----------------------------------------------------------------------

and the serial.ini with this (not 100% sure it was not like this or is needed)

serial_device      COM3:baud=115200 parity=N data=8 stop=1

Also make sure your scope is in "DTR" mode to disable handshakeing

My scope is in DTR mode, I've modified connect.ini, serial.ini and default_connect.ini as follow :
interface_settings  com4:baud=19200 parity=N data=8 stop=1
is_Prologix          0

Now when I run the HP7470A Plotter emulator and click on Acquire -> Wait for device-initiated plot and then on the scope Print screen, all I get on my computer is "Reading data from instrument, 0 bytes received...And it stays like that. 

[Lorenzo_1]

I recently went through this process with a newly acquired LeCroy 9424 scope using RS232 output through an RS232:USB converter. Went through similar trials and difficulties initially but with the aid of an RS232 breakout box and PrintCapture got it working in one night.  The breakout box was simply useful to confirm the oscilloscope and computer were talking and check which lines were in use. Turns out I needed to use a null modem in line with the RS232 cable to get the comms working properly - luckily I had one on the shelf.  PrintCapture can be downloaded on a trial basis while you test it out.  The setup details on their website were the key to getting the configuration right.  Works like a charm now.  PrintCapture also has a long list of models their software is known to work with - 94xx was listed but not the 9424 specifically, from memory.

Choosing the right RS232:USB converter can be critical.  Had lots of problems with cheap Chinese models with drivers that were unreliable or simply wouldn't work - in that case to set up automotive diagnostic hardware/software and also with GPS units. One of them actually caught fire connected between laptop and GPS! Finally bought a high-priced Keyspan USA-19HS and have had no problems since. 

FWIW I have no link/connection to KeySpan or PrintCapture - simply have found these items work for me.

[Rémi]

I recently went through this process with a newly acquired LeCroy 9424 scope using RS232 output through an RS232:USB converter. Went through similar trials and difficulties initially but with the aid of an RS232 breakout box and PrintCapture got it working in one night.  The breakout box was simply useful to confirm the oscilloscope and computer were talking and check which lines were in use. Turns out I needed to use a null modem in line with the RS232 cable to get the comms working properly - luckily I had one on the shelf.  PrintCapture can be downloaded on a trial basis while you test it out.  The setup details on their website were the key to getting the configuration right.  Works like a charm now.  PrintCapture also has a long list of models their software is known to work with - 94xx was listed but not the 9424 specifically, from memory.

Choosing the right RS232:USB converter can be critical.  Had lots of problems with cheap Chinese models with drivers that were unreliable or simply wouldn't work - in that case to set up automotive diagnostic hardware/software and also with GPS units. One of them actually caught fire connected between laptop and GPS! Finally bought a high-priced Keyspan USA-19HS and have had no problems since. 

FWIW I have no link/connection to KeySpan or PrintCapture - simply have found these items work for me.

Thanks a lot Lorenzo, you were right, I had to use a null modem cable (just 3 wire RX, TX and GND) to get it working. Now with KE5FX 7470 plotter program I get an image. 

[pascal_sweden]

Cool that it works! This brings HP54645D back to 2017

[Lorenzo_1]

Good that it worked for you  When I started I tried feeding LeCroy RS232 output via USB converter direct into HP Laserjet USB port. But that port proved to be unpowered so wouldn't drive the converter. Couldn't find an externally powered converter or work-around, so figured I'd have to run converter using laptop USB.  That led me to PrintCapture to decode traffic and then print the file as a 2nd step. Clunky but effective. Haven't got round to working with GPIB interface yet.

[alm]

You should also be able to use SCPI commands to get the raw data from the scope for further analysis or plotting. Not sure if there ready-made packages for that except ancient HP software or the fairly expensive software from Metratek.

[Lorenzo_1]

I commented earlier in this thread about capturing screens from a LeCroy scope RS232 interface using PrintCapture software. Thought I should let users know that my attempt to purchase a licence for PrintCapture has been singularly unsuccessful to date - their 30-day test download software works OK. When I paid for a licence I was advised I could use it for 5 days, by which time I would receive licence details. However, no licence received after several weeks and no response to emails to their support line. Free download stopped working as expected.  I'm hopeful of getting money back through the payment service I used.  Meantime I found, contrary to expectation, that the free downloadable LeCroy WaveStudio software works fine with my 9354AL and downloads and prints screens very nicely. Lesson learned I guess.

[NikoJu]

Hi,
Thanks to this thread I've now successfully set up the serial communication to my HP54645D Scope and would like to Plot my screen using the HP7470A Plotter emulator.
I did however run into a slight problem that I was unable to solve yet. When I click on "wait for device-initiated Plot" I get a communications error. However when I initiate the plot from the scope's print menu and afterward click on "wait for device-initiated Plot" it perfectly plots the data it receives (although being cropped because it misses the first couple of bytes)

does anyone know what I am doing wrong?
Thanks!