Tektronix PWS4205 Operating and maintenance manual

xx
PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721
Linear DC Power Supplies
ZZZ
Programmer Manual
*P077048102*
077-0481-02

PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721
Linear DC Power Supplies
ZZZ
Programmer Manual
xx
www.tektronix.com
077-0481-02

Copyright © Tektronix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tektronix products are covered by U.S. and foreign patents, issued and pending. Information in this publication
supersedes that in all previously published material. Specifications and price change privileges reserved.
Tektronix, Inc., P.O. Box 500, Beaverton, OR 97077
TEKTRONIX and TEK are registered trademarks of Tektronix, Inc.
Contacting Tektronix
Tektronix, Inc.
14150 SW Karl Braun Drive
P.O. Box 500
Beaverton, OR 97077
USA
For product information, sales, service, and technical support:
In North America, call 1-800-833-9200.
Worldwide, visit www.tektronix.com to find contacts in your area.

Table of Contents
Preface.............................................................................................................. iii
Getting Started
Getting Started ............................................................. .. .. .. .. ............................... 1-1
Using the USB ............................................................................................... 1-1
Using the GPIB .............................................................................................. 1-1
Command Timing............................................................................................ 1-2
Command Syntax................................................................................................. 2-1
Command and Query Structure ............................................................................ 2-1
Command Entry.............................................................................................. 2-3
Command Groups ................................................................................................ 2-7
Status Commands............................................................................................ 2-7
Save and Recall Commands................................................................................ 2-8
System Commands .......................................................................................... 2-8
Diagnostic Commands ...................................................................................... 2-9
Synchronization Commands................................................................................ 2-9
Trigger Commands .......................................................................................... 2-9
Measurement Commands................................................................................. 2-10
Source Commands......................................................................................... 2-10
Bus Command Group ..................................................................................... 2-11
Commands Listed in Alphabetical Order .................................................................... 2-13
Status and Events
Status and Events................................................................................................. 3-1
Status Reporting Structure.................................................................................. 3-1
Registers ...................................................................................................... 3-3
Queues ........................................................................................................ 3-8
Messages and Codes......................................................................................... 3-8
Appendices
Appendix A: ASCII Code Chart............................................................................... A-1
Appendix B: Programming Examples......................................................................... B-1
Appendix C: Default Setup..................................................................................... C-1
PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721 Power Supply Programmer Manual i

Table of Contents
ii PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721 Power Supply Programmer Manual

Preface
This programmer manual provides commands, and explains the use of those
commands, for remotely controlling the PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323,
PWS4602, and the PWS4721 Linear DC Power Supplies. With this information,
you can write computer programs to perform functions, such as setting the
controls, taking measurements, performing statistical calculations, and exporting
data for use in other programs.
PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721 Power Supply Programmer Manual iii

Preface
iv PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721 Power Supply Programmer Manual

Getting Started

Getting Started
Your power supply has a USB 2.0 high-speed device port to control the power
supply using the USBTMC protocol. The USBTMC protocol allows USB devices
to communicate using IEEE-488.2 style messages.
You can also remotely communicate between your power supply and PC over
GPIB using the TEK-USB-488 Adapter.
Using the USB
Start by connecting an appropriate USB cable between the USB 2.0 high-speed
device port on the rear panel of your power supply and a PC.
In order for the PC to recognize the power supply, a USBTMC driver must be
installed on the PC. A USBTMC driver can be installed on your PC by installing a
virtual instrument communications API like TekVISA or NIVISA. These VISAs
are available for download from the Tektronix or National Instruments Web sites.
Once the USBTMC driver is loaded, your PC will establish communication with
the power supply upon USB cable connection.
For further remote control and/or programming use, other software applications
may be needed in addition to a VISA and the USBTMC driver.
Using the GPIB
Start by connecting an appropriate USB cable between the USB 2.0 high-speed
device port on the rear panel of your power supply and the TEK-USB-488
Adapter host port. Then connect a GPIB cable from the TEK-USB-488 Adapter
to your PC.
Supply power to the adapter in one of the following ways:
Use an optional 5 V DC power adapter connected to the 5 V DC power
input on the adapter.
Use an appropriate USB cable connected to a powered USB host port on your
PC and the device port on the TEK-USB-488 Adapter.
GPIB Requirements Before setting up the power supply for remote communication using the electronic
(physical) GPIB interface, you should familiarize yourself with the following
recommendations:
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Getting Started
A unique device address should be assigned to each device on the bus. No
two devices should share the same device address.
No more than 15 devices can be connected to any one bus.
Only one device should be connected for every 6 feet (2 meters) of cable used.
No more than 65 feet (20 meters) of cable should be used to connect devices
to a bus.
At least two-thirds of the devices on the network should be on while using
the network.
Connect the devices on the network in a star or linear configuration. Do not
use loop or parallel configurations.
To Change GPIB Address
Settings
Your power supply must have a unique device address to function properly. The
default setting for the GPIB configuration is GPIB Address 1. If there is more
than one GPIB instrument on the bus, you will need to change the default setting
on the power supply. To change the GPIB address settings, do the following:
1. On the instrument front-panel, push the Shift button and then the 1button to
access the menu.
2. Press the down arrow key until you see System and then press the Enter
button.
3. Press the down arrow key until you see Address and then press the Enter
button.
4. You can now change the address of your GPIB port. This will set the GPIB
address on an attached TEK-USB-488 Adapter.
The power supply is now set up for bidirectional communication with your
controller.
Command Timing
The average time it takes to both send and receive every command is
approximately 20 ms. In the case of more complex commands, more time may
be required to complete transmission.
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Command Syntax
You can control the power supply through the USB interface using commands
and queries.
This section describes the syntax these commands and queries use and the
conventions the power supply uses to process them. The commands and queries
themselves are listed by group and alphabetically. (See page 2-7, Command
Groups.)
You transmit commands to the power supply using the enhanced American
Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) character encoding. Appendix
Acontains a chart of the ASCII character set.
The Backus Naur Form (BNF) notation is used in this manual to describe
commands and queries. (See Table 2-1.)
Table 2-1: BNF notation
Symbol Meaning
<> Defined element
::= Is defined as
| Exclusive OR
{ } Group; one element is required
[] Optional; can be omitted
.. . Previous element(s) may be repeated
( ) Comment
Command and Query Structure
Commands consist of set commands and query commands (usually simply called
commands and queries). Commands change power supply settings or perform a
specific action. Queries cause the power supply to return data and information
about its status.
Most commands have both a set form and a query form. The query form of the
command is the same as the set form except that it ends with a question mark.
For example, the set command STATus:OPERation:ENAble has a query form
STATus:OPERation:ENAble?. Not all commandshavebothasetandaquery
form; some commands are set only and some are query only.
A command message is a command or query name, followed by any information
the power supply needs to execute the command or query. Command messages
consist of five different element types. (See Table 2-3.)
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Command Syntax
Table 2-2: Command message elements
Symbol Meaning
<Header> The basic command name. If the header ends with a question mark,
the command is a query. The header may begin with a colon (:)
character; if the command is concatenated with other commands the
beginning colon is required. The beginning colon can never be used
with command headers beginning with a star (*).
<Mnemonic> A header subfunction. Some command headers have only one
mnemonic. If a command header has multiple mnemonics, they are
always separated from each other by a colon (:) character.
<Argument>A quantity, quality, restriction, or limit associated with the header.
Not all commands have an argument, while other commands have
multiple arguments. Arguments are separated from the header by a
<Space>. Arguments are separated from each other by a <Comma>.
<Comma> A single comma between arguments of multiple-argument commands.
It may optionally have white space characters before and after the
comma.
<Space> A white space character between command header and argument. It
may optionally consist of multiple white space characters.
The following figure shows the five command message elements.
Figure 2-1: Command message elements
Commands Commands cause the power supply to perform a specific function or change one
of its settings. Commands have the structure:
[:]<Header>[<Space><Argument>[<Comma><Argument>]...]
A command header is made up of one or more mnemonics arranged in a
hierarchical or tree structure. The first mnemonic is the base or root of the tree
and each subsequent mnemonic is a level or branch off of the previous one.
Commands at a higher level in the tree may affect those at a lower level. The
leading colon (:) always returns you to the base of the command tree.
Queries Queries cause the power supply to return information about its status or settings.
Queries have the structure:
[:]<Header>
[:]<Header>[<Space><Argument>[<Comma><Argument>]...]
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Command Syntax
You can specify a query command at any level within the command tree unless
otherwise noted. These branch queries return information about all the mnemonics
below the specified branch or level.
Query Responses When a query is sent to the power supply, only the values are returned. When
the returned value is a mnemonic, it is noted in abbreviated format, as shown
in the following table.
Table 2-3: Query response examples
Query Response
MEASure:VOLTage:DC? 5.0011
SOURce:FUNCtion:MODE? LIST
Command Entry
Follow these general rules when entering commands:
Enter commands in upper or lower case.
You can precede any command with white space characters. White space
characters include any combination of the ASCII control characters 00 through
09 and 0B through 20 hexadecimal (0 through 9 and 11 through 32 decimal).
The power supply ignores commands that consists of just a combination of
white space characters and line feeds.
SCPI Commands and
Queries
The power supply uses a command language based on the SCPI standard. The
SCPI (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments) standard was created
by a consortium to provide guidelines for remote programming of instruments.
These guidelines provide a consistent programming environment for instrument
control and data transfer. This environment uses defined programming messages,
instrument responses and data formats that operate across all SCPI instruments,
regardless of manufacturer.
The SCPI language is based on a hierarchical or tree structure that represents a
subsystem. The top level of the tree is the root node; it is followed by one or more
lower-level nodes. (See Figure 2-2.)
Figure 2-2: Example of SCPI subsystem hierarchy tree
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Command Syntax
You can create commands and queries from these subsystem hierarchy trees.
Commands specify actions for the instrument to perform. Queries return
measurement data and information about parameter settings.
Message Terminators This manual uses the term <EOM> (End of message) to represent a message
terminator.
USB End of Message (EOM) terminators. See the USB Test and Measurement
Class Specification (USBTMC) section 3.2.1 for details. The power supply
terminates messages by setting the EOM bit in the USB header of the last
transfer of a message to the host (USBTMC Specification section 3.3.1), and by
terminating messages with a LF.
When receiving, the power supply expects a LF and an asserted EOM bit as
a message terminator.
Parameter Types Many power supply commands require parameters. Parameters are indicated
by angle brackets, such as <file_name>. There are several different types of
parameters, as listed in the following table. The parameter type is listed after
the parameter. Some parameter types are defined specifically for the arbitrary/
function generator command set and some are defined by SCPI. (See Table 2-4.)
Table 2-4: Types of parameters
Parameter type Description Example
boolean Boolean numbers or values ON or ≠0
OFF or 0
discrete A list of specific values MIN, MAX
NR1 numeric Integers 0, 1, 15, -1
NR2 numeric Decimal numbers 1.2, 3.141516, -6.5
NR3 numeric Floating point numbers 3.1415E-9, -16.1E5
NRf numeric Flexible decimal number that
maybetypeNR1,NR2,orNR3
See NR1, NR2, NR3 examples in
this table
string Alphanumeric characters (must
be within quotation marks)
“Testing 1, 2, 3”
Abbreviating Commands,
Queries, and Parameters
You can abbreviate most SCPI commands, queries, and parameters to an accepted
short form. This manual shows these commands as a combination of upper and
lower case letters. The upper case letters indicate the accepted short form of a
command, as shown in the following figure. The accepted short form and the long
form are equivalent and request the same action of the instrument.
2-4 PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721 Power Supply Programmer Manual

Command Syntax
Figure 2-3: Example of abbreviating a command
Chaining Commands and
Queries
You can chain several commands or queries together into a single message. To
create a chained message, first create a command or query, then add a semicolon
(;), and finally add more commands or queries and semicolons until you are done.
If the command following a semicolon is a root node, precede it with a colon
(:). The following figure illustrates a chained message consisting of several
commands and queries. The chained message should end in a command or query,
not a semicolon. Responses to any queries in your message are separated by
semicolons.
Figure 2-4: Example of chaining commands and queries
If a command or query has the same root and lower-level nodes as the previous
command or query, you can omit these nodes. In the following figure, the second
command has the same root node (STAT:QUES) as the first command, so these
nodes can be omitted.
Figure 2-5: Example of omitting root and lower level nodes
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Command Syntax
General Rules for Using
SCPI Commands
The following are three general rules for using SCPI commands, queries, and
parameters:
You can use sin gle (‘ ’) or double (“ ”) quotation marks for quoted strings, but
you cannot use both types of quotation marks for the same string.
correct “This string uses quotation marks correctly.”
correct ‘This string also uses quotation marks correctly.’
incorrect “This string does not use quotation marks correctly.’
You can use upper case, lower case, or a mixture of both cases for all
commands, queries, and parameters.
:SOURCE:FREQUENCY 10MHZ
is the same as
:source:frequency 10mhz
and
:SOURCE:frequency 10MHZ
NOTE. Quoted strings are case sensitive.
No embedded spaces are allowed between or within nodes.
correct :OUTPUT:FILTER:LPASS:FREQUENCY 200MHZ
incorrect :OUTPUT: FILTER: LPASS:FREQUENCY 200MHZ
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Command Groups
This manual lists the power supply commands in two ways. First, it presents them
by functional groups. Then, it lists them alphabetically. The functional group list
starts below. The alphabetical list provides detail on each command. (See page
2-57, Commands Listed in Alphabetical Order.)
The power supply interface conforms to Tektronix standard codes and formats
except where noted. The GPIB interface also conforms to IEEE Std 488.2–1987
except where noted. The USB interface also conforms to USB Test and
Measurement Class, Subclass USB488 Specification, except where noted.
Arguments are not mentioned in the group command descriptions, but are listed
under the commands in the Commands Listed in Alphabetical Order section of
this manual. (See page 2-13.)
Status Commands
Status commands let you determine the status of the power supply and control
events.
Several commands and queries are common to all devices on the GPIB or USB
bus. These commands and queries are defined by IEEE Std. 488.2-1987 and Tek
Standard Codes and Formats 1989, and begin with an asterisk (*) character.
Table 2-5: Status commands
Command Description
*CLS Clear all event registers and queues
*ESR? Return standard event status register
*ESE Set/query standard event status enable
register
*IDN? Return identification information in IEEE
488.2 notation
*RST Resets to known settings, but does not purge
stored settings
*PSC Set/query power-on status clear
*SRE Set/query service request enable register
*STB? Read status byte
STATus:QUEStionable:CONDition? Return questionable condition register.
When a bit of the quest condition changes,
the corresponding bit value in the quest
event register will be set to 1.
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Command Groups
Table 2-5: Status commands (cont.)
Command Description
STATus:QUEStionable:ENABle Set/query questionable enable register. This
parameter determines which bit of the quest
event register is set to 1. If a QUES condition
changes, the QUES bit of status byte register
will be set to 1.
STATus:QUEStionable[:EVENt]? Return questionable event register
STATus:QUEStionable:PTRansition Edit the rising edge parameter of quest event
register
STATus:QUEStionable:NTRansition Edit the trailing edge parameter of quest
event register
STATus:OPERation:CONDition? Return operation condition register. When
a parameter of the operation condition
register changes, the corresponding bit in
the operation event register will be set to 1.
STATus:OPERation:ENABle Set/query operation enable register. The
parameter determines which bit value of
quest event register is set to 1. If a OPER
condition changes, the OPER bit of the
status byte register will be set to 1.
STATus:OPERation[:EVENt]? Return operation event register
Save and Recall Commands
Save and recall commands allow you to save the active settings to one of the
settings memories within the power supply, and recall those settings at a later time.
Table 2-6: Save and recall commands
Header Description
*SAV Save instrument setting to setup memory
*RCL Recall instrument setting from setup memory
System Commands
Table 2-7: System commands
Header Description
SYSTem:POSetup Set power-on parameters
SYSTem:VERSion? Return version information
SYSTem:ERRor? Return error code and error information
SYSTem:KEY Set key operation
2-8 PWS4205, PWS4305, PWS4323, PWS4602, and PWS4721 Power Supply Programmer Manual