Created on 2008-12-03 20:43:00
Audio Precision has developed a complete LabVIEW project-style instrument driver for IEEE 488.2 (GPIB) equipped models of the 2700 Series of audio analyzers. This driver supports NI LabVIEW 8.20.
LabVIEW is a well-established, widely used graphical system design platform for test and control from National Instruments. An audio analyzer such as a 2700 Series instrument can be represented in
LabVIEW as a collection of virtual instruments that can be interconnected and controlled from the LabVIEW interface while being physically connected by a GPIB or other compatible bus system. For more information about LabVIEW, visit www.ni.com.
Download the driver from Audio Precision (see Related Files below).
Requirements
- A GPIB-equipped Audio Precision 2700 Series audio analyzer (models SYS-2702G, SYS-2712G, SYS-2720G or SYS-2722-192k G).
- A GPIB interface card and driver (such as the NI PCI-GPIB 778032-01 or Agilent 82350B) for the controlling PC.
- A GPIB interface cable.
- National Instruments LabVIEW 8.20 installed on the controlling PC.
Installation
The download is a Zip archive named AP2700_LabVIEW.zip. Download this file to your hard drive and open the archive using WinZip.
Extract the files to the [instr.lib] subfolder in your local LabVIEW installation, at this path: Program Filesational InstrumentsLabVIEW 8.2instr.lib
Fig 1: Installation location
Basic Operation
Launch LabVIEW and open an Audio Precision example VI (virtual instrument), or double-click an example VI from Windows Explorer to launch LabVIEW.
The LabVIEW Front Panel for the example will load. You can view the Block Diagram for the example by choosing > >, or by pressing Ctrl E.
In the Block Diagram view, right click to open the Functions palette. Choose Instrument I/O > Instrument Drivers > Audio Precision 2700 Series to view the available VIs.
The Example VIs
The 2700 Series example VIs provide an easy way to build your own custom configurations and tests. Open an example, then open a new VI. You can drag and drop the icons from the example that you need, and then wire this new VI for the desired functionality.
You must always begin with a VISA resource name that points to the Audio Precision GPIB instrument. Wire this resource to the AP2700 Init.vi, then wire the resource name and error pins to the next VI in the chain. For example, to configure the 2700 Series generator, you would drag in the generator configuration VI and add a Boolean control for the on/off switch. It’s a good idea to finish with the Close VI wired with a final error indicator that will show success or failure for the entire VI.
When your VI has been tested to your satisfaction, you can then drag it into a larger project as a component VI.
See the illustrations for the LabVIEW Tree view, analog generator and the multitone analyzer VI control panels and block diagrams below
Note: Click the image to launch a full size image.