New Keithley DMM6500 and now DAQ6510

[RBBVNL9]

Can you tell me where you wrote to report the problem? My messages have been ignored for years.

I reported the issue around December 2020 to Keithley. After a couple of further email exchanges in the days after, a representative of Tektronix/Keithley informed me that they were able to replicate the crashes I was experiencing there as well. But it took several more firmware updates until they addressed it in new firmware.

[MegaVolt]

Can you tell me where you wrote to report the problem? My messages have been ignored for years.

I reported the issue around December 2020 to Keithley. After a couple of further email exchanges in the days after, a representative of Tektronix/Keithley informed me that they were able to replicate the crashes I was experiencing there as well. But it took several more firmware updates until they addressed it in new firmware.

I also reported the problem to 2020 and they confirmed to me that they see it. Maybe we need more time

[mawyatt]

New firmware 1.7.10

The captions on the charts have become beautiful.

We just received a new DMM6500 with cal date 9/31/21 and has firmware version 1.7.7b.

Never used or owned a Keithley Product before and must say this is a nice DMM, really like the display and features

Best

[macaba]

New firmware 1.7.10

The captions on the charts have become beautiful.

I must be blind, just did the update and don't see a difference. Please point it out!

[MegaVolt]

I must be blind, just did the update and don't see a difference. Please point it out!

I left a screenshot above. Look at the Y-axis caption. They are better than they were. More readable.

I missed the update 1.7.7 maybe new captions appeared in it.

[KedasProbe]

My update went weird again.
I had a stick with 1.7.10b on it no other firmwares

I started from 1.7.7
after 'update' I got 1.7.5b 
Since I had an upgrade problem before that got fixed by downgrading first I pressed the downgrade button.
it downgraded to 1.7.1b     (I didn't provide the file)
I pressed update after that and then I got 1.7.10b

But only the downgrade to 1.7.1b took long with progress bars the others were like skipping parts of the upgrade.
And why 1.7.1b, does the DMM6500 have some backup firmware on it stored?? (it wasn't on my USB)

I certainly don't want to put money on which firmware I really have now.
Later I will see if I have this extra LAN command that was added, if not...... 

Looks like it has an identity crisis 

[Hydron]

If you read the readme of the 1.7.10 update it mentions that there is a bug in the version number display of older firmwares which causes it to appear as 1.7.1 (and requires the use of the "downgrade" button to trigger the update). So a little confusing, but it sounds like you got there in the end (no idea where you got the 1.7.5 from though!).

Really begs the question why they didn't label it as 1.8.0 or something to avoid the issue, but I guess there may be internal reasons (rigid numbering schemes or something).

[KedasProbe]

Indeed I should have read that. (and indeed 1.8, are they afraid of running out of numbers)
About the 1.7.5b my idea is that probably the previous version (1.7.5b) wasn't properly upgraded to 1.7.7 and it corrected the version number after pressing the upgrade button.

When you load the 1.7.10 firmware into your instrument, system messages will display the firmware version as 1.7.1. This is only a cosmetic issue and does not impact the performance of the unit. Subsequent firmware upgrades will display a two-digit firmware version number.
To install firmware version 1.7.10 on your instrument, use the Downgrade to older option from the front panel or use the downgrade remote commands. See "Upgrading the firmware" in your instrument's Reference Manual for more information.

it's a 'cosmetic issue' if you saw that after pressing the upgrade button.
it not a 'cosmetic issue' if you have to press the downgrade button to upgrade.

[Hydron]

Yeah they should have said something like "The only functional impact of this is the requirement to use the "downgrade" button to apply the update, it is otherwise cosmetic only".  Anyway, pretty minor thankfully.

[5q5r]

Hi all, thanks for all the good info on the DMM6500 from this thread!

I have been using mine to to a bit of resistor binning for a circuit that was touchier than expected, and I found out that the DMM6500 has a sorting/binning script as an example, that uses the digital IO lines. But: I don't have digital IO lines, because I don't have a comms card!

I have already been looking at making a DIY channel card, and I figured I would look at the comms card interface as well, but that seems to be completely shrouded in secrecy! I can't even find a picture of the KTTI-[RS232, TSP, GPIB] boards anywhere to get just a hint of the circuit!

Is there anyone who has one of those cards who would be kind enough to provide pictures of the circuit board? Or has any sort of info on how it works, and whether it's possible to DIY a board for it? Thanks!

[voltsandjolts]

There is very little info on those KTTI cards, probably because they are niche requirement, rarely used.
I think for resistor binning there will be another solution.
What are the IO lines used for in that script anyway, LED blinking?

[Hydron]

I would also be interested in seeing if a KTTI card could be DIY'd, but I agree that there would be other options. Firstly I believe that more than one channel on a scanner card can be activated at once (I think it's a setting somewhere), so a DIY scanner card could use this to expose some IO. Alternatively a script running on the DMM6500 can send messages over the LAN - should be able to use an external device (e.g. a raspberry pi or even an ESP32) for extra IO.

[5q5r]

The IO lines would be used for example for an automatic sorter, or in my case, just to light up which bin to put the component into so I can turn off my brain while doing it ;-)

I was going to do the raspberry pi etc thing at first, but then looking at the scripting examples, I realized that they actually had an example for exactly this use case! Shame that they are so rare, at least among us hobbyists. I should check if we have a GPIB one somewhere at work, once we are allowed back in the office.

[E-Design]

Hi all, thanks for all the good info on the DMM6500 from this thread!

I have been using mine to to a bit of resistor binning for a circuit that was touchier than expected, and I found out that the DMM6500 has a sorting/binning script as an example, that uses the digital IO lines. But: I don't have digital IO lines, because I don't have a comms card!

I have already been looking at making a DIY channel card, and I figured I would look at the comms card interface as well, but that seems to be completely shrouded in secrecy! I can't even find a picture of the KTTI-[RS232, TSP, GPIB] boards anywhere to get just a hint of the circuit!

Is there anyone who has one of those cards who would be kind enough to provide pictures of the circuit board? Or has any sort of info on how it works, and whether it's possible to DIY a board for it? Thanks!

For the "comms" cards, I am familiar with the designs --I would say it is not a straightforward bit-bang IO interface that would have made it easy to DIY unfortunately.
A simplified IO model of the KTTI digital IO can be found in the accessory instruction sheet - but it would not include details about the interface.

Some pics of the boards - taken with my crummy phone.

[E-Design]

Another pic topside (some components for the DIO)

[E-Design]

Another pic bottom side (some components for the DIO)

[5q5r]

Thanks for the pictures and the info! An FPGA for an RS232-interface and a few I/O lines seems like overkill, but I guess the design is similar across all 3 versions. 😊 I will have to look out for a cheap second hand card or go with the raspberry pi for now.

[KedasProbe]

I have been planning to make a scripts that sends out data over to our 'cloud' at work.
Since the required reaction time is slow in your case you can probably do the same and just MQTT subscribe to the value(s) on your light control device, it should make the software easier and flexible but it would make it network dependent.
The plus side is you have some extra logging.
(it may be more work if you have to setup a cloud first)

[HighVoltage]

Looks like trigger on 6500 is software, ...

Yes, I think this was confirmed by Keithley.

Maybe the DMM7510 will work for you on this project, I think its trigger system is hardware based.

[BitWrangler1001]

I have been planning to make a scripts that sends out data over to our 'cloud' at work.
Since the required reaction time is slow in your case you can probably do the same and just MQTT subscribe to the value(s) on your light control device, it should make the software easier and flexible but it would make it network dependent.
The plus side is you have some extra logging.
(it may be more work if you have to setup a cloud first)

The device can also send to a cloud service natively!
Check out
https://www.initialstate.com/keithley/

[KedasProbe]

The device can also send to a cloud service natively!
Check out
https://www.initialstate.com/keithley/

I know, it's based on their script that I'm trying to make a version called the InitialThingsboardState.
But I haven't got it to work yet, I have to figure out some errors.
I use a local free Thingsboard CE instance in a VM as 'cloud' (https://thingsboard.io)
It has the limitation that it only has 1ms time resolution but they may later add nanosecond timestamps.

[aronake]

When calibrating a DMM6500 is each calibration point individual and can be made individually? I.e. no need to do a whole range or all measurements.

Reason I ask is that i just got a DMM6500. On a very certain 5.00000 volt source it show 4.99985. Still in spec, but a bit too far out for my liking.

I can generate very exact 0.1V, 10V, 100V and 1000V, so would want to do own calibration for DC voltage only.

[aronake]

When calibrating a DMM6500 is each calibration point individual and can be made individually? I.e. no need to do a whole range or all measurements.

Reason I ask is that i just got a DMM6500. On a very certain 5.00000 volt source it show 4.99985. Still in spec, but a bit too far out for my liking.

I can generate very exact 0.1V, 10V, 100V and 1000V, so would want to do own calibration for DC voltage only.

How about I read the manual?

It apparently clearly say that any point can be calibrated individually.

Page 71:
"The following sections provide the preparation and command parameters that you need to complete adjustments to you DMM6500. The preparation sections provide information necessary for making connections and other equipment needed for that adjustment. The command parameter tables are meant to run through in any order allowing you to adjust just the parameters you need. For a complete adjustment, run through these sections in order, making the preparations and running all of the command parameters."

[HighVoltage]

Make sure to check and maybe adjust the ZERO calibration before starting to change any other values.
Also, if the ZERO has drifted, it would be best to calibrate step by step all DC values as suggested by the manual.

[aronake]

Make sure to check and maybe adjust the ZERO calibration before starting to change any other values.
Also, if the ZERO has drifted, it would be best to calibrate step by step all DC values as suggested by the manual.

Thanks! Good point. Have you done your own calibration of a DMM6500?