HP 8509A Operating instructions

HP 8509A/B LightwavePolarization Analyzer
Programming Guide
ABCDE
HP Part No. 08509-90017
Printed in USA October 1994

Notice.
The information contained in this do cument is sub ject to change without notice.
Hewlett-Packard makes no warrantyof any kind with regard to this material, including
but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and tness for a particular
purpose. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, p erformance, or use of this material.
Windows and QuickBasic are trademarks of Microsoft Corp oration.
c

Cop
yrigh
tHewlett-P
ac
kard Compan
y1994
All Righ
ts Reserv
ed. Reproduction, adaptation, or translation without prior written
permission is prohibited, except as allow
ed under the cop
yrigh
tla
ws.
1400 F
oun
taingro
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,Santa Rosa, CA 95403-1799, USA

Certification
Hewlett-Packard Company certies that this pro duct met its published sp ecications at the
time of shipment from the factory. Hewlett-Packard further certies that its calibration
measurements are traceable to the United States National Institute of Standards and
Technology, to the extent allowed by the Institute's calibration facility, and to the calibration
facilities of other International Standards Organization members.
Warranty
This Hewlett-Packard instrument product is warranted against defects in material and
workmanship for a perio d of one year from date of shipment. During the warranty perio d,
Hewlett-Packard Company will, at its option, either repair or replace pro ducts whichproveto
be defective.
For warranty service or repair, this pro duct must be returned to a service facility designated
b
yHewlett-P
ac
k
ard. Buy
er shall prepa
yshipping c
harges to Hewlett-P
ac
k
ard and
Hewlett-P
ac
kard shall pa
y shipping charges to return the pro duct to Buy
er. Ho
w
ev
er, Buy
er
shall pay all shipping c
harges, duties, and taxes for pro ducts returned to Hewlett-P
ac
k
ard
from another coun
try
.
Hewlett-P
ac
k
ard w
arran
ts that its soft
w
are and rm
w
are designated by Hewlett-Pac
k
ard for
use with an instrumen
twill execute its programming instructions when properly installed on
that instrumen
t. Hewlett-P
ac
kard do es not w
arran
tthat the operation of the instrumen
t, or
soft
w
are, or rm
w
are will beunin
terrupted or error-free.
Limita
tion of W
arranty
The foregoing w
arrant
yshall not apply to defects resulting from improp er or inadequate
main
tenance b
yBuy
er, Buy
er-supplied soft
w
are or in
terfacing, unauthorized mo dication or
misuse, operation outside of the en
vironmen
tal specications for the pro duct, or improp er
site preparation or maintenance.
NO OTHER WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. HEWLETT-PACKARD
SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Exclusive Remedies
THE REMEDIES PR
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VIDED HEREIN ARE BUYER'S SOLE AND EX
CLUSIVE
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CKARD SHALL NOT BE LIABLE F
OR ANY DIRECT,
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AMAGES, WHETHER
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CT, TOR
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Y.
iii

Safety Notes
The following safety notes are used throughout this manual. Familiarize yourself with eachof
the notes and its meaning before op erating this instrument.
Caution
Caution denotes a hazard. It calls attention to a procedure that, if not
correctly p erformed or adhered to, would result in damage to or destruction
of the instrument. Do not pro ceed b eyond a caution sign until the indicated
conditions are fully understo o d and met.
Warning
Warning denotes a hazard. It calls attention to a procedure which, if not
correctly performed or adhered to, could result in injury or loss of life. Do
not proceed beyond a warning note until the indicated conditions are fully
understood and met.
L The instruction do cumentation symbol. The pro duct is marked with this symbol when
it is necessary for the user to refer to the instructions in the do cumentation.
\CE" The CE mark is aregistered trademark of the Europ ean Communit
y. (If accompanied
b
yayear, it is when the design w
as pro
v
en.)
\ISM1-A" This is asym
bol of an Industrial Scien
tic and Medical Group 1Class Apro duct.
\CSA" The CSA mark is aregistered trademark of the Canadian Standards Asso ciation.
iv

General Safety Considerations
Warning
This is a Safety Class I product (provided with a protective earthing ground
incorporated in the power cord). The mains plug shall only be inserted in a
socket outlet provided with a protective earth contact. Any interruption of the
protective conductor, inside or outside the instrument, is likely to make the
instrument dangerous. Intentional interruption is prohibited.
Warning
No operator serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified personnel. To
prevent electrical shock, do not removecovers.
Caution
Before switching on this instrument, make sure that the line voltage selector
switch is set to the voltage of the p ower supply and the correct fuse is
installed.
v

How to Use This Guide
This guide uses the following conventions:
4
Front-Panel Key
5
This represents a key physically lo cated on the instrument.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Softkey
This indicates a \softkey," a key whose lab el is determined bythe
instrument's rmware.
Screen Text This indicates text displayed on the instrument's screen.
vi

Contents
1. Intro duction
2. Starting Up the System For HP-IB Control
3. HP-IB Overview
Bus Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Data Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Handshake Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Control Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Sending Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
4. HP-IB For the HP 8509
HP-IB to DDE In
terface ............ . . . .........4-2
`Command Line' Setup Options ...... . . . ............4-3
/Errors Only . . . . ...................... . . 4-3
/HP8509=
<
Name of executable
>
................. . .4-3
/HP8509TimeOut=
<
Num
ber of Min
utes
>
...............4-3
HP 8509 Con
trol F
rame ... . ...................4-4
HP-IB Frame ........................ . ...4-5
Data Separator ..........................4-5
Cr/Lf ............ . . . ..............4-5
Comma ..... . . . ....................4-5
HP-IB Exit State . .................. . . . . . 4-5
Con
troller ............. . . . . . .........4-6
Non-Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
5. Basic Instrument Control
Data Requesting Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Operation Complete ........ . ............ . ....5-4
Preparing F
or HP-IB Con
trol ........... . ..........5-5
6. Interacting with the HP 8509A/B Through the DDE
Establishing DDE Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Sending HP 8509 Commands via DDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Retrieving HP 8509 Data via DDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Contents-1

7. Measurement Programming
Calibrate the Instrument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Set Up the Instrument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Connect the Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Take Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Transfer Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
8. Remote Command Reference
Command Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Abbreviations / Denitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Changes from Version 1.2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
*OPC[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Cal:Calibrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Disper:Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Source? Source:External? Source:Internal? . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Common Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
*IDN? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
*OPC[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Device Specic Commands ............ . . . . . ......8-6
Analog?
........ . . . . . . . ...............8-6
Analog:Done
. . . . . . . . .................. . 8-6
Analog:{ Off |Raw |Stokes }[?]
................ . .8-6
Angles:{ AB? |AC? |BC? }
........ . . . ..........8-7
Angles:{ Degrees |Radians }[?]
..... . ............8-7
Angles:Done
.. . ........................ . 8-7
Angles:{ Off |On }
................ . .......8-7
Average:Display:{ Off |On }
......... . ..........8-7
Average:Display{ ?|:<NumPoints> }
.. . .............8-7
Average:Done
. . ...................... . . . 8-7
Average:Measure{ ?|:<NumPoints> }
............. . . . 8-8
Cal?
................ . . . . . . . ........8-8
Cal:Calibrate
......... . . . . . . . ...........8-8
Cal:{ Done |Save }
.. . . . ...................8-8
Cal:Delete:<Wavelength nm> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Cal:List? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Cal:{ Off | On } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
ClearParams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
DBase:Close
... . ........... . ............ 8-9
DBase:Compact
........ . ............ . .....8-9
DBase:Filename?
.. . ........... . ...........8-9
DBase:Open:<"filename"> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
DBase:Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Disper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Disper? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Disper:ActiveWindow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Disper:Atten{ ? | :<dBm value> } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Disper:Calibrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Disper:{ Cascade |Single }[?]
...................8-11
Disper:Chain[?]
..................... . ....8-11
Disper:Clear
............... . ...........8-11
Disper:Close
........ . ..................8-11
Contents-2

Disper:DBase:Load:<"title"> .... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-11
Disper:DBase:Save:<"title"> [ :<"date code"> [ :<"serial number"> ]] 8-12
Disper:Done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Disper:FiberLen{ ? | :<km> } ..... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-12
Disper:FindMinPoints[:<Num Samples>] .... .. ... .. .. .. 8-12
Disper:HPIB[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
Disper:Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
Disper:Manual? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
Disper:Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
Disper:NewThruCal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Disper:Power? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Disper:Power:{ dBm | uWatt }[:<value>] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Disper:Restart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Disper:Save:<"filename"> .... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-15
Disper:Settle:{ Point | Start }{ ? | :<Delay msec>} . . . . . . . . 8-15
Disper:Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-15
Disper:Trace:<"filename"> ..... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-16
Disper:Units{ ? | :ps | :ps/L | :ps/sqrtL | :fs | :fs/L | :fs/sqrtL } 8-16
Disper:VTune[?] .. . . . .................... . 8-16
Disper:VTune:{ Start |Stop }{ ?|:<Voltage> }
..........8-16
Disper:WLen?
............. . . . ...........8-16
Disper:WLen:Points{ ?|:<NumPoints> }
.. . . . .........8-17
Disper:WLen:{ Start | Stop |Delta }{ ?|:<Wavelength nm>}
....8-17
Disper:WLen:Steps{ ?|:<NumPoints> }
...............8-18
Display:Angles:{ Off |On }
........ . ...........8-18
Display:Angles:{ Degrees |Radians }
. . .............8-18
Display:Power:{ Linear |Log }
...................8-18
Display:Update{ ?|:<NumPoints> }
............ . ...8-19
Drive?
......... . ....................8-19
Drive:<MS-DOS Drive Spec>
.....................8-19
GetFile:<"filename">
.................. . . . . . 8-19
GetMarker:{ A |B|C}
............. . ... . . . ...8-19
GetMarker?:{A|B|C} . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-19
Jones? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-20
Jones:{ Absolute | Relative }[?] .... .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-20
Jones:Calibrate[A | B | C] .... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-20
Jones:Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-20
Jones:Done ............. . ........... . ..8-21
Jones:{ External |Internal }[?]
.. . ........... . ..8-21
Jones:{ MagRadians |MagDegrees |RealImag }[?]
...... . ...8-21
Jones:Measure[A|B|C]
..... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-21
Jones:NewThruCal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-22
Jones:ReStart . . . . . . .... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-22
Load:Config:Preset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-22
Load:Config:<"filename"> .... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-22
Load:Single:<"filename"> .... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-22
OperVer[?]
............................8-23
OperVer:{ Start |Cancel |Done }
....... . .........8-23
PdlMaxMin[?]
...... . ....................8-23
PdlMaxMin:{ Max |Min }
..................... . 8-23
PdlMaxMin:Delta?
.................. . ......8-23
Contents-3

PdlMaxMin:{ Reset | Clear | Done } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-23
Poincare:Center:{ Stokes | A | B | C } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-23
Poincare:Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Poincare:Hold:{ Off | On } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Poincare:Marker:{ A | B | C } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Poincare:Marker:Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Polarizer:{A|B|C|None}[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Polarizer:Angle{ A | B | C }{ ? | :<Degree Value> } . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Polarizer:Done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-24
Polarizer:{ External | Internal } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-25
PolDep? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-25
PolDep:{ Absolute | Relative }[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-25
PolDep:Calibrate[A|B|C] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-25
PolDep:Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-25
PolDep:Done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-26
PolDep:{ Internal | External }[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-26
PolDep:{ JonesData? | PolDepData? } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-26
PolDep:{ JonesMode | PolDepMode }[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-26
PolDep:{ MagRadians | MagDegrees | RealImag }[?]
.........8-27
PolDep:Measure[A |B|C]
.............. . . . . . . . 8-27
PolDep:NewThruCal
............. . . . .........8-27
PolDep:ReStart
...... . . . .................8-27
PolMarker:{ A|B|C}
.................. . . . ..8-27
PolMarker?:{ A|B|C}
............. . ........8-28
Range:Auto{ ?|:Off |:On }
...... . .............8-28
Range:{ Done |Down |Up }
.....................8-28
Range{ ?|:<GainValue> }
................... . .8-28
RawDat?
................ . .............8-29
RefFrame?
......... . . . .................8-29
RefFrame:{ Off |On
}[?] ......................8-29
RefFrame:{ 2pt |3pt }[?]
.............. . . . . . . . 8-30
Save:Config:<"filename"> ................... . .8-30
Save:Disper:<"filename"> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-30
Save:Jones:<"filename"> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-30
Save:PolDep:<"filename"> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-30
Save:Single:<"filename"> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-31
SerialNum? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-31
SetMarker:<S0>:<s1>:<s2>:<s3>:{ A |B|C}
....... . ....8-31
Single
...... . ........... . ...........8-31
Single:Done
............ . ...............8-31
Single:DBase:Load:<"title"> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-31
Single:DBase:Save:<"title"> [ :<"date code"> [ :<"serial number">]]
8-31
Single:Freq{ ? | :<Hertz> }
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-32
Single:Mode{ ? | :Single | :Timed | :FreeRun }
. . . . . . . . . . .8-32
Single:Period{ ? | :<Seconds> } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-32
Single:Points{ ? | :<NumPoints> } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-32
Single:Start
.................... . ......8-32
Source?
............. . ................8-32
Source:External?
...... . ..................8-33
Source:External:{ Off |On }
....................8-33
Source:External:<Wavelength nm>
.................8-33
Contents-4

Source:HPIB[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-33
Source:Hpib:{ Off | On | <Wavelength nm> } .... ... .. .. .. 8-33
Source:Internal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-34
Source:Internal:{ Off | 1310 | 1550 } .... .. ... .. .. .. 8-34
Source:Manual[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-34
Source:Shutter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-34
Source:Shutter:{ Off | On } ..... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-34
Source:VTune[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-35
Source:VTune:{ Start | Stop }{ ? | :<Voltage> } . . . . . . . . . . 8-35
Status? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-35
Stokes:<NumPoints> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-35
Stokes?:<NumPoints> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-35
TLS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-36
TLS:Address{ ? | :<HP-IB Address> } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-36
TLS:Isc{ ? | :<HP-IB card ISC> } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-36
TLS:Power{ ? | :<Power> } .... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-36
TLS:{ SettlePoint | SettleStart }{ ? | :<Millisec's> } . . . . . . . 8-36
TLS:Power:Unit{ ? | :dBm | :Watt } .... .. .. ... .. .. .. 8-37
Trace:Points:<NumPoints> .... . ................8-37
Version?
.................. . . . . . . . ....8-37
WaveScan[?]
............. . . . ............8-37
WaveScan:Analysis?
...... . . . ...............8-37
WaveScan:Analysis:{ Extrema | Peaks }:{ FullScan |FirstToLast }
.8-38
WaveScan:Atten{ ?|:<dBm value> }
.............. . ..8-38
WaveScan:Clear
............ . .............8-38
WaveScan:Close
..... . ....................8-38
WaveScan:DBase:Load:<"title">
..................8-38
WaveScan:DBase:Save:<"title"> [:<"date code"> [<"serial number"> ]]
8-38
WaveScan:Feature{ ?|:<Min Feature Size> }
... . . . ......8-38
WaveScan:FiberLen{ ?| :<km> }
...................8-38
WaveScan:Hpib[?]
.................. . . . . . . . 8-39
WaveScan:Manual[?] ................... . . . . . 8-39
WaveScan:Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-39
WaveScan:Mode{ ? | :<Mode Constant> } .... .. ... .. .. .. 8-39
WaveScan:PmdResult{ ? | :Avg | :Max | :Median} ..... .. .. .. 8-40
WaveScan:Polarizer{ ? | :A | :B | :C | :None } ..... .. .. .. 8-40
WaveScan:Power? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-40
WaveScan:Power:{ dBm |uWatt }[:<value>]
......... . ...8-40
WaveScan:Save:<"filename">
...... . ........... . .8-40
WaveScan:Settle:{ Point |Start }{ ?|:<Delay msec> }
... . ...8-41
WaveScan:Units:{ ? | :ps | :ps/L | :ps/sqrtL }
..... .. .. .. 8-41
WaveScan:VTune[?] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-41
WaveScan:VTune: { Start | Stop }{ ? | :<Voltage> }
..... .. .. 8-41
WaveScan:WLen? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-41
WaveScan:WLen:{ Start | Stop | Delta }{ ? | :<Wavelength nm>} . . . 8-42
WaveScan:WLen:Points{ ? | :<NumPoints> } .... ... .. .. .. 8-42
Zero
.................... . ..........8-42
9. Example Programs
Index
Contents-5

Figures
2-1. HP-IB Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
4-1. HP-IB to DDE Gateway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
4-2. HP-IB Connections In a Typical Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Tables
8-1. Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Contents-6

1
Introduction
This chapter is an introduction to programming the HP 8509 p olarization analyzer over
HP-IB (Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus) and over the DDE (dynamic data exchange). Its
purpose is to provide concise information ab out the op eration of the instrument under remote
control. Some background information on the HP-IB and DDE is provided. A tutorial
introduction using elementary programming examples illustrates the basics of HP 8509 remote
control. The document also provides a command reference with a brief description of each
HP-IB/DDE command recognized by the HP 8509. Examples are provided on two disks that
are included with the HP 8509 Users/Reference Guide. The programs on these twodisks
illustrate the exact executable syntax, but the code is not explained in great detail. See the
README.TXT les on each disk for more information.
Example Programs Disk - DOS Format, IBASIC and VISUAL BASIC/DDE example.
Example Programs Disk -LIF F
ormat, HP BASIC example for an HP 9000 series 200/300
con
troller.
The main fo cus of this c
hapter is on HP-IB con
trol of the HP 8509 polarization analyzer
through an external PC con
troller running IBASIC for Windo
ws. Most of the commands in
the command reference (section 8) are a
v
ailable using Microsoft Windo
ws DDE, as w
ell as
HP-IB. The material presen
ted in this c
hapter is not in
tended to teac
hprogramming or to
discuss HP-IB or DDE theory except at an in
troductory lev
el. Related information can be
found in the follo
wing references:
Information concerning HP Instrumen
t BASIC for Windo
ws is a
v
ailable in
Instal ling and
Using HP Instrument BASIC for Windows
(HP part no. E2200-90000).
Information on HP Instrument BASIC is available in the HP Instrument BASIC User's
Handbook (HP part no. E2083-90000).
Information on using the HP-IB is available in the Tutorial Description of the
Hew lett-Packard InterfaceBus (HP literature no. 5952-0156).
Microsoft documentation of DDE.
Additional information about the HP 8509 measuremen
tpro cedures can befound in the
following references:
HP 8509 User's/R
eferenc
e Guide
(HP part no. 08509-90010).
Introduction 1-1

2
Starting Up the System For HP-IB Control
The HP 8509 can b e remotely controlled from HP-IB according to the setup illustrated in
Figure 2-1 and the pro cedures describ ed b elow:
1. Power up the HP 8509 system according to the instructions provided in the Instal lation
and Quick Start Guide document (HP part no. 08509-90002).
2. Connect an HP-IB cable from the HP-IB b oard of the system controller PC to the HP 8509
Vectra HP-IB board connector. The board connector is in the back of the HP 8509 Vectra.
3. Start up the HP 8509 application by double-clicking on the HP 8509 icon in the HP 8509
instrument window.
4. Start the HPIB2DDE application by double-clicking on the HPIB2DDE
icon in the HP 8509 window. The HP 8509 windo
wis within the Program Manager
window. If the Program Manager windo
wis obscured b
ythe HP 8509 instrumen
twindo
w,
merely double-clic
kan
ywhere outside the existing windo
ws. This will bring up awindo
w
called the T
ask List. Double-clic
kon the Program Manager en
try to bring its windo
wto
the fron
tof the screen. The HP 8509 windo
wshould become visible. The HPIB2DDE icon
resides within the HP 8509 windo
w. Once the HPIB2DDE application has been started, if
desired, the HPIB2DDE windo
wcan beminimized b
yclic
king on the do
wn arrow in the
top righ
t-hand corner of this windo
w.
5. Begin sending HP-IB Commands from the con
trolling external PC.
Figure 2-1. HP-IB Setup
Starting Up the System For HP-IB Control 2-1

3
HP-IB Overview
HP-IB (the Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus) is a high-performance bus that allows individual
instruments and computers to be combined into integrated test systems. The bus and its
asso ciated interface op erations are dened by the IEEE 488.1 standard. The IEEE 488.1
standard denes the interface capabilities of instruments and controllers in a measurement
system, including some frequently used commands.
HP-IB cables provide the physical link b etween devices on the bus. There are eight data lines
on each cable that are used to send data from one device to another. Devices that send data
over these lines are called Talkers . Listeners are devices that receivedata over the same lines.
There are also vecontrol lines on each cable that are used to manage trac on the data lines
and con
trol other in
terface operations.
Con
trollers
are devices that use these con
trol lines to
specify the talk
er and listener in adata exchange.
When an HP-IB system con
tains more than one device with con
troller capabilities, only
one of the devices is allo
w
ed to control data exc
hanges at an
ygiv
en time. The device
curren
tly con
trolling data exc
hanges is called the
Active Con
troller
.Also, only one of the
con
troller-capable devices can b edesignated as the system con
troller. The HP 8509 can
function as atalk
er, alistener, or acon
troller at dieren
ttimes.
HP-IB addresses pro
vide aw
a
yto iden
tify devices on the bus. The activ
econ
troller uses
HP-IB addresses to specify whic
hdevice talks and whic
hdevice listens during adata
exc
hange. This means that eac
hdevice's address must be unique. Adevice's address is set on
the device itself, using either a fron
t-panel k
ey sequence or arear-panel switc
h. The factory
default address for the HP 8509 is 29.
Bus Structure
Data Bus
The data bus consists of eigh
tlines that are used to transfer data from one device to another.
Programming commands and data sen
ton these lines is t
ypically encoded in the ASCII
format, although binary encoding is often used to sp eed up the transfer of large arrays. Only
ASCII format is a
vailable to the HP 8509. In addition, ev
ery b
yte transferred o
ver HP-IB
undergoes a
handshake to ensure v
alid data.
HP-IB Ov
erview 3-1

Handshake Lines
A three-line handshakescheme co ordinates the transfer of data between talkers and listeners.
This technique forces data transfers to o ccur at the speed of the slowest device, and
ensures data integrityinmultiple listener transfers. With most computing controllers and
instruments, the handshake is p erformed automatically, which makes it transparenttothe
programmer.
Control Lines
The data bus also has ve control lines that the controller uses b oth to send bus commands
and to address devices. The HP 8509 makes explicit use of the EOI line through the
HP-IB END statement used to terminate all command transmissions. A brief description of
the ve HP-IB control lines is provided b elow.
IFC Interface Clear. Only the system controller uses this line. When this line is true
(low) all devices (addressed or not) unaddress and go to an idle state.
ATN Attention. The activecontroller uses this line to dene whether the information
on the data bus is a
command
or is
data
.When this line is true (lo
w) the bus is
in the
command mo de and the data lines carry bus commands. When this line is false
(high) the bus is in the data mo de and the data lines carry device-dep
enden
t
instructions or data.
SR
Q
Service Request. This line is set true (lo
w) when adevice requests service; the
activ
econ
troller services the requesting device.
REN
Remote enable. Only the system con
troller uses this line. When this line is set
true (lo
w) the bus is in the remote mo de and devices are addressed either to
listen or talk. When the bus is in remote and adevice is addressed, it receiv
es
instructions from HP-IB rather than from its fron
tpanel. When this line is set
false (high) the bus and all devices return to lo cal op eration.
EOI
End or Iden
tify
.This line is used b
ya
talker to indicate the last data b
yte in a
m
ultiple b
yte transmission, or b
yan active controller to initiate a parallel poll
sequence. The analyzer recognizes the EOI line as a terminator and it pulls the
EOI line with the last byte of a message output (data, markers, plots, prints,
error messages).
3-2 HP-IB Ov
erview

Sending Commands
Commands are sentover the HP-IB via a controller's language system, such as IBASIC,
QuickBasic or C. The keywords used byacontroller to send HP-IB commands vary among
systems. When determining the correct keywords to use, keep in mind that there are two
dierent kinds of HP-IB commands:
Bus management commands, which control the HP-IB interface.
Device commands, whichcontrol analyzer functions.
Language systems usually deal dierently with these two kinds of HP-IB commands. For
example, for most HP instrumentation, HP BASIC can use a unique keyword to send eachbus
management command, but always uses the keyword OUTPUT to send device commands.
It must b e noted, however, that for the HP 8509, all commands must b e sent using the
OUTPUT statement.
The following example shows how to send a typical device command in IBASIC:
OUTPUT 729; "POINCARE:CLEAR" END
This sends the command within the quotes (POINCARE:CLEAR) to the HP-IB device at
address 729. If the device is an HP 8509, the command instructs the analyzer to clear all
measured traces from the P
oincare sphere.
ADDITIONAL INF
ORMA
TION
The HP-IB card select co de is 7and the HP-IB address is 29. The select co de
is set b
yadjusting switc
hes on the HP-IB card inside the computer.
HP-IB Ov
erview 3-3