KEPCO BHK-MG VISA Driver Manual (Both Full and 1/2 Rack) - Manual (Page 3)

BHK-MG-VISA 010906
3
BHK-MG 200 WATT (FULL RACK) AND 40 WATT (1/2 RACK)
VISA INSTRUMENT DRIVER
The VISA instrument driver supplied with the BHK-MG 200 Watt (Full Rack) and 40 Watt (1/2 Rack) Power
Supply is provided to simplify programming with a VISA compatible GPIB controller. The latest driver can
be downloaded from the Kepco website (http://www.kepcopower.com/drivers.htm). The driver includes the
source code (C) for all VISA functions (kp_BHK.c).
Since the software drivers supplied by Kepco are VISA compliant, they require the installation of the proper
VISA driver from your GPIB card supplier. The Kepco website (http://www.kepcopower.com/drivers.htm)
provides links to various vendor sites for these drivers.
1. VISA INSTRUMENT DRIVER FUNCTIONS
Kepco’s BHK-MG VISA instrument driver provides programming support for Kepco’s BHK-MG 40 Watt (1/2
Rack) Series Power Supplies (VISA I/O). It contains functions for opening, configuring, taking measure-
ments from, test, calibration and closing the instrument. To successfully use this module, the instrument
must be connected to the GPIB and the GPIB address supplied to the initialize function must match the
GPIB address of the instrument.
Table 1 lists the functions that are available.
TABLE 1. BHK-MG VISA DRIVER FUNCTIONS
Purpose Function Name Description
INITIALIZE FUNCTION
Initialize KpBhk_init Initializes the instrument and sets it to a default configuration.
APPLICATION FUNCTIONS — This class of functions contains high-level test and measurement routines. These functions call
other instrument driver functions to configure, start, and get readings from the instrument.
Set and Measure KpBhk_ApplicSetMeas Used to either set and read back, or just read back the output voltage,
current and operating mode of the power supply
Get/Set Memory Value KpBhk_GetSetListValue This function can either get or set the values stored in any one of the 40
available memory locations. Six parameter values can be stored in any
one of the 40 locations: voltage level, current level, overvoltage level,
overcurrent level, duration of the setting (if used in a program) and next
memory address (if used in a program). Depending on the slide selec-
tion position, and the value of get/set switch, one of these values is
read or set. The values are checked against the maximum acceptable
values for the corresponding power supply.
CONFIGURATION FUNCTIONS — This class of functions configures the instrument by setting system configuration parameters.
Get Current Range KpBhk_getCurrRange FULL RACK units only. Gets the current range:
1 = High range, 0 = Low range
Set Current Range KpBhk_setCurrRange FULL RACK units only. Sets the current range:
1 = High range, 0 = Low range
Set Maximum Limit
Value KpBhk_SetMaxLimValue Sets the temporary voltage limit or current limit of the power supply.
The limit reduces the output range of the power supply. For example,
the output voltage range of a 0 to 10V power supply can be limited to
the range of 0 to 5.25V by setting the voltage limit to 5.25V.
Get Maximum Limit
Value KpBhk_GetMaxLimValue Gets the maximum limit value of the power supply.
Get Minimum or Maxi-
mum Value KpBhk_GetMinMaxValue Gets the minimum or the maximum output voltage, output current,
overvoltage level, or overcurrent level of the power supply depending
on the min_max switch and slide selection position.