Keysight U1252B w U1117A & Keysight Handheld Meter Logger Software

[Gandalf_Sr]

I have been fighting to get this work for a while; today I made progress but I'm still stuck.  I'm running Windows 10, 64 bit with a Broadcom BCM920702 Bluetooth 4.0 USB adapter. 

I made the meter + adapter connect to my iPhone using the iPhone App with no problems but I want to make it work on my PC.

At first I had all kinds of issues trying to make the Broadcom BT adapter work but I think I solved that today using option 3 at this link to make the BT Support Service Startup type 'automatic'; after this I can connect the U1117A to my PC, see it connect, see the green LED go solid on the U1117A, and even see what COM ports it comes up as on my PC under 'More Bluetooth Options' in the Bluetooth & Other Devices page.

Here's the issue, When I run up the Keysight Handheld Meter Logger Software, it has a yellow triangle icon at the lower right that says 'Bluetooth is Off' and clicking the 'Refresh Instruments List' icon never finds anything, I even tried the manual connection with the COM ports I know are the ones that the BT is connected to but these too fail.  I tried other baud rates and I tried running in Windows 7 & 8 compatibility modes, always the same.

Any ideas?

[Gandalf_Sr]

Not that I want to rolll my own but, having had no responses, I thought last night about a Windows VB.Net form or just serial commands and a quick search came up with this awesome Sigrok link that seems to have all the U12xxx commands listed.

And then I see that Sigrok has a tool called Sigrok Meter that's available here.

[Keysight DanielBogdanoff]

Interesting, have you tried calling the support line? They tend to be pretty good with this type of thing. I'll also ask around.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Daniel,

It all works perfectly with Keysight Meter Logger on my iPhone so I think the issue is either the cheap USB-Bluetooth adapter in my PC or the PC  Keysight Handheld Meter Logger software that is struggling with Win 10.

Did you find anything out?

[EDIT] I re-tested the U1117A with my iPhone and it works just fine still.  I ordered a new Bluetooth-USB dongle thingie; maybe that will solve the issue.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Still trying to work this out, I tried again with Handheld Meter Logger on my desktop but gave up as it would never connect.  I've ordered a U1173B cable* to test with but meanwhile, I have been trying with my U1117A Bluetooth adapter.  I can connect the U1117A adapter to my laptop and then I see 2 serial ports, COM4 and COM5.  COM5 is the only one that seems to do anything, I set up Teraterm to 19200, 8, None, 1 and then, with the U1117A fitted to my U1252B, I get '*0' when I switch on the meter.  Typing commands such as '*IDN?' get absolutely nothing in response.  I tried with my new U1242B meter even though I have to hold the U1117A against the back (until my $12 plastic U1179A adapter clip arrives) and it has exactly the same performance.  I tried other commands like 'SYST:BATT?' and got no response. AFAIK, my meter should be responding to these commands.

This Sigrok page suggests that it should work, does anyone have any ideas why it doesn't?

* If anyone is buying a U1173B cable, be aware that there are cables on eBay that come from China that are between $70 and $120 but they can be purchased from Keysight or Mouser for $32.84, I ordered mine from Mouser.com

[Gandalf_Sr]

Well the U1173B arived today in my Mouser order, plugged it in, ran up Keysight Handheld Meter Logger Software on my Win 10 PC and it saw my U1252B meter instantly and recorded a simple ~100 second sample.

My new Bluetooth dongle hasn't arrived yet but I suspect that will solve my issue with the U1117A.

Now I have achieved my aim of being able to simple data logging and the software was free 

[Gandalf_Sr]

Well the new CSR 4.0 Bluetooth Dongle arrived and I've tried the default drivers, the drivers that came on the included min CD, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports but it doesn't work. 

I tried finding hidden devices in Device Manager and deleting them, updating Windows, reinstalling, everything I can think of.

Occasionally I see the U1117A device but it always fails to pair.

I give up.  I don't think this is a U1117A issue per-se, it's more likely a Windows 10 - 64 bit problem.

[maginnovision]

I've used the 1117 and 1252B before and while it wasn't flawless it definitely worked with win10 64 bit. My problem was it wouldn't allow me to change things in the software and save to meter, but I didn't really need to log anything I was just testing it to see if it worked. My Bluetooth was built in to the motherboard.

[Gandalf_Sr]

I should've said... I think it's a problem with the BT - USB dongle I'm trying to use with Windows 10 - 64 bit; it's this one here.

[mjkuwp]

sorry to ask such a basic question, but did you go through the meter to set the bitrate to 19,200?  The default may be 9600.  I mention this because I have had my own problems with this when switching between meters 

I've used the Bluetooth adapter for Keysight/Agilent meters with Android and three different meters, the U1242A, U1252B and U1273A.  I got fed up with the changes and weakness with the Android App over the years so I abandoned that route.

More recently, I have been using the U1173B/A cords and they work really well with some Python code on Windows or Linux.  I have not tried the Keysight software.

I agree your problem may be with Windows/Drivers/Bluetooth.  If you care to do a little hacking another way to go would be to use your own hardware to make the UART to Bluetooth bridge.  A product such as this may work in the middle:

https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing-bluefruit-ez-link


The interface is very simple as you can see from the documentation that Sigrok supplies.
https://sigrok.org/wiki/Device_cables#Agilent_U1173B