Program that can log/control many multimeters and other devices.

[mawyatt]

@mawyatt & @Martin72,

Please test the updated file on my previous post. I replaced it as it still had a level check that needed to be removed for your devices.

Thanks,
Josh

Not sure this is for "just our IM3536" as it seems that the IM3536 doesn't support these commands, which was causing the problems all along with LAN, but didn't seem to bother USB connections. We've got our version of IM35XX now working on the MAC and the PC, and removed our version so that it's not available to others.

After awhile we'll supplement your "official version" and see how things behave. Either way we've now got a working TC with LAN connected from our MAC and PC after discovering the incompatible/unsupported SCPI commands

Hopefully getting the TH2830 will be less painful

Anyway, thanks for the help

Best

[KungFuJosh]

Not sure this is for "just our IM3536" as it seems that the IM3536 doesn't support these commands, which was causing the problems all along with LAN, but didn't seem to bother USB connections. We've got our version of IM35XX now working on the MAC and the PC, and removed our version so that it's not available to others.

After awhile we'll supplement your "official version" and see how things behave. Either way we've now got a working TC with LAN connected from our MAC and PC after discovering the incompatible/unsupported SCPI commands

Hopefully getting the TH2830 will be less painful

No, it's not just you. Those features are only available on the IM3570, so now they've been limited to the IM3570. Since that was a first version release, and I don't have other devices to test on, you tested it for me. Anyway, the official updated version I linked above will work fine for you now (version 1.2).

Testing your Hioki was only painful because the response was weird. The different response between USB and LAN made it confusing. Once I saw your logs had timeouts for the same commands on both devices, then it was easier to look at the official command reference for the IM3536 and see what was missing.

Your TH2830 should work fine. I'm not sure how frequency entry will work for you if you're on an older version of the firmware that has limited frequency points. I am curious to see how it works for you.

Thanks,
Josh

[Martin72]

Here's an updated version of the Hioki IM series LCR meters. This should cover the compatibility issues Mike experienced.

Now I can't connect to the Hioki anymore... It's not being recognized after the update.

EDIT:

Works - You have to delete the device from the list and select it new...

[KungFuJosh]

Here's an updated version of the Hioki IM series LCR meters. This should cover the compatibility issues Mike experienced.

Now I can't connect to the Hioki anymore... It's not being recognized after the update.

EDIT:

Works - You have to delete the device from the list and select it new...

That's because you're using an outdated version of TestController. There was a case-sensitivity issue with the device name in the previous version.

Thanks for testing!

Thanks,
Josh

[mawyatt]

Not sure this is for "just our IM3536" as it seems that the IM3536 doesn't support these commands, which was causing the problems all along with LAN, but didn't seem to bother USB connections. We've got our version of IM35XX now working on the MAC and the PC, and removed our version so that it's not available to others.

After awhile we'll supplement your "official version" and see how things behave. Either way we've now got a working TC with LAN connected from our MAC and PC after discovering the incompatible/unsupported SCPI commands

Hopefully getting the TH2830 will be less painful

No, it's not just you. Those features are only available on the IM3570, so now they've been limited to the IM3570. Since that was a first version release, and I don't have other devices to test on, you tested it for me. Anyway, the official updated version I linked above will work fine for you now (version 1.2).

Testing your Hioki was only painful because the response was weird. The different response between USB and LAN made it confusing. Once I saw your logs had timeouts for the same commands on both devices, then it was easier to look at the official command reference for the IM3536 and see what was missing.

Your TH2830 should work fine. I'm not sure how frequency entry will work for you if you're on an older version of the firmware that has limited frequency points. I am curious to see how it works for you.

Thanks,
Josh

Just tried the "official update version" with the PC, then MAC, and both are working with LAN

Still puzzled why the LAN failed and the USB worked with incompatible commands??

Anyway, now to tackle the TH2830 with USB (we have the fine frequency version).

Thanks for the help.

Best

[KungFuJosh]

Just tried the "official update version" with the PC, then MAC, and both are working with LAN

Still puzzled why the LAN failed and the USB worked with incompatible commands??

I'm glad it's working now and thanks for your help testing it!

Well, USB didn't work with the incompatible commands, it just didn't fail as hard. That is weird though.

Anyway, now to tackle the TH2830 with USB (we have the fine frequency version).

Thanks for the help.

You shouldn't have any issues then (following the directions for using USBCDC). Let me know how it goes.

Thanks,
Josh

[HKJ]

Here's an updated version of the Hioki IM series LCR meters. This should cover the compatibility issues Mike experienced.

Updated it, thanks.

[Cyclotron]

Because I use my 33250a to create test patterns for logging, I built this to control it from within TC.  I've been over it and don't see any issues in multiple reviews. If anything is discovered or needed to be adjusted, feel free to do so.

[HKJ]

Because I use my 33250a to create test patterns for logging, I built this to control it from within TC.  I've been over it and don't see any issues in multiple reviews. If anything is discovered or needed to be adjusted, feel free to do so.

Added it, thanks.

[flash2b]

I have made (yet another) update to 2 of my definitions.

The Elecdemo one is tuned to prevent timeouts, the Owon one is tuned to have even more special characters + 1 minor adjustment.

Please add them to TC.

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ]
[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ]

[HKJ]

I have made (yet another) update to 2 of my definitions.

Thanks, updated.

[mawyatt]

Have the TH2830 now working with a PC (USB)

Question wrt to making a time chart log (see attachment) of the TH2830 Cp and Q parameters. This chart was created with a 20nF test DUT (old Soviet Mica) without a proper Open/Short Cal or instrument/device warmup, just a quick test and you can see the trend as TH2830 and DUT are warming up.

The chart shows a Capacitance scale on left that is unusable (no resolution) altho we set the range in "Scales to chart" from 20.039nF to 20.042nF. The Q scale on the right shows fine with a Range of 6000 to 10,000 as set.

Are we missing something wrt getting the left axis to display with a better resolution?

Best

[flash2b]

Select more decimals in the Scales for Chart tab and/or Select more decimals in the Current Values tab for the measured value. Both SI format with a high number.

[HKJ]

 

Have the TH2830 now working with a PC (USB)

Question wrt to making a time chart log (see attachment) of the TH2830 Cp and Q parameters. This chart was created with a 20nF test DUT (old Soviet Mica) without a proper Open/Short Cal or instrument/device warmup, just a quick test and you can see the trend as TH2830 and DUT are warming up.

The chart shows a Capacitance scale on left that is unusable (no resolution) altho we set the range in "Scales to chart" from 20.039nF to 20.042nF. The Q scale on the right shows fine with a Range of 6000 to 10,000 as set.

Are we missing something wrt getting the left axis to display with a better resolution?

Put a checkmark in the SI column on the scales page.
You could also request a lot of decimals, but SI is a better solution here.

[KungFuJosh]

scale on left that is unusable

For charting anything in TC, you will need to become familiar with the Scales for chart tab.

If you click the Minimum/Maximum column title, it will switch to Center/Span, which I prefer.

See my ST2832 settings for an idea of how I use it.

Auto is useful sometimes, but sometimes it's better to turn that off. For example, if I'm testing a 10V standard, and I know the absolute value, I'll set that to a 10V center with a 200u span.

Thanks,
Josh

[mawyatt]

One of the areas we are interested in is the stability of some test capacitor fixtures we've created with select old Soviet Mica capacitors (and other Micas). These fixtures allow direct BNC connection to an lab LCR meter and house the Mica cap inside a box fixture which provides a good mechanical and electrical environment for the mica test cap, which should (actually has) improve repeatability.

TC appears to be a great resource for this with our TH2830 and IM3536 LCR meters. Here's an ~hour sample where the DUT and LCR meter have been allowed to stabilize. This doesn't have a Open/Short Cal tho, just a quick check up to "see" how things behave. Note the capacitance scale of 20nF with a 1pF span (50fF per division, the TH2830 resolution is 100fF at this range). Impressive results for these old Micas IMO

Anyway, thanks for all the help from everyone in getting TC running on our setup/system and a special thanks to HKJ for creating TC

Best

[HKJ]

One of the areas we are interested in is the stability of some test capacitor fixtures we've created with select old Soviet Mica capacitors (and other Micas). These fixtures allow direct BNC connection to an lab LCR meter and house the Mica cap inside a box fixture which provides a good mechanical and electrical environment for the mica test cap, which should (actually has) improve repeatability.

You can also connect a temperature meter to TC and have a temperature curve in parallel with the capacity.

A simple solution may be a Arduino with a humidity/temperature sensor https://lygte-info.dk/project/TestControllerArduino2%20UK.html#DHT22/AM2302_temperature_and_humidity_device
There are also a couple of commercial sensor support by TC.

[mawyatt]

One of the areas we are interested in is the stability of some test capacitor fixtures we've created with select old Soviet Mica capacitors (and other Micas). These fixtures allow direct BNC connection to an lab LCR meter and house the Mica cap inside a box fixture which provides a good mechanical and electrical environment for the mica test cap, which should (actually has) improve repeatability.

You can also connect a temperature meter to TC and have a temperature curve in parallel with the capacity.

A simple solution may be a Arduino with a humidity/temperature sensor https://lygte-info.dk/project/TestControllerArduino2%20UK.html#DHT22/AM2302_temperature_and_humidity_device
There are also a couple of commercial sensor support by TC.

Already doing this

The special Direct BNC Connect fixtures the test reference caps are housed in also host a thermistor attached to the cap metal tub for exactly this purpose

Edit: Added a test TC Chart of a 20nF Mica showing Cp, Rs, D and device Temperature, note the temp rise at the starting as the DUT warms up.

Thanks again for creating such a useful tool

Best

[KungFuJosh]

I knew you were gonna love this.

[mawyatt]

I knew you were gonna love this.

Well it wouldn't have happened without your nice LCR Meter Interfaces, well done 

Best

[KungFuJosh]

I knew you were gonna love this.

Well it wouldn't have happened without your nice LCR Meter Interfaces, well done 

Thanks! I had to give back a little after everything you've taught me about LCR meters.

[mawyatt]

Here's a result of an ongoing (3hr+) where you can see the effects of small temperature changes at the DUT. These changes are due to the AC turning OFF/ON and a reduction in outside ambient temp. As you can see our "home office lab" is far from a proper temp controlled lab. With the night approaching the AC doesn't cycle as much (note the somewhat sinusoidal temp changes with a cycle time of ~15 minutes) because of the lower outside ambient. Without a local AC cooling effect as often the DUT temp rises above the earlier level before returning to a higher level. Later the room AC will be dropped 1 degree F (77) for more comfortable sleeping.

Normally we would use the DMM6500 or KS34465A trending plots and visually correlate these plots with the DUT cap measurements, or as planned later create a custom Python routine to bring these together. With TC from HKJ and Josh's LCR interfaces, we won't need to develop the Python routines!!!

These measurements were accomplished with an old Mac Pro, LAN connected to a Hioki IM3536 and DMM6500, with custom DUT fixture shown above. This illustrates the superb performance of the Hioki IM3536, which should be expected for an LCR meter of this class!!

Anyway, from the plot chart you can see the rough temp coefficient of the 20nF Mica is 25~30ppm which agrees with some earlier temperature/cap measurements. This is pretty good for a Mica cap, or any cap!! Some of these Micas have already demonstrated excellent repeatability and very high "Q", so looking forward to continuing this with the help of TC  

Best 

[HKJ]

Here's a result of an ongoing (3hr+) where you can see the effects of small temperature changes at the DUT. These changes are due to the AC turning OFF/ON and a reduction in outside ambient temp. As you can see our "home office lab" is far from a proper temp controlled lab. With the night approaching the AC doesn't cycle as much (note the somewhat sinusoidal temp changes with a cycle time of ~15 minutes) because of the lower outside ambient. Without a local AC cooling effect as often the DUT temp rises above the earlier level before returning to a higher level. Later the room AC will be dropped 1 degree F (77) for more comfortable sleeping.

If you want to correlate with time of day, you can right click on hh:mm:ss and select dataTime, it will show date and time of day on the x-axis. You can adjust the actual dateTime format on the configuration page.
TC always saves full date and time when logging stuff, this way you can always see when you did the logging.


if you click in the chart, you will get a cursor and readouts. This cursor has a lot of functions of you right-click.

[KungFuJosh]

Here's a basic definition for the Agilent E4428C and E4438C vector sig gens.

I dunno if I'll do anything more with it or not. 🤷

Thanks,
Josh

[flash2b]

I have a strange problem with the strlen() command after using abs()

My value = 2000

print("Before: "+strlen(value))
value = abs(value)
print(" After: "+strlen(value))

Output of log:
DM36B06: Script end <Before: 4 After: 6>
Before: 4 After: 6

How is that possible ?

If i do an additional int() it works again.