VTI Instruments VM3608A User manual

bus
VM3608A/
VM3616A
DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER
USER’S
MANUAL
P/N: 82-0034-000
Released June 9th, 2016
VTI Instruments Corp.
2031 Main Street
Irvine, CA 92614-6509
[phone]

VTI Instruments Corp.
2

www.vtiinstruments.com
VM3608A/3616A Preface 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCITON
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................................3
Certification .........................................................................................................................................................7
Warranty...............................................................................................................................................................7
Limitation of Warranty.........................................................................................................................................7
Restricted Rights Legend .....................................................................................................................................7
DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY ................................................................................................................................8
GENERAL SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS..............................................................................................................................9
Terms and Symbols..............................................................................................................................................9
Warnings..............................................................................................................................................................9
SUPPORT RESOURCES ..............................................................................................................................................11
SECTION 1 ...................................................................................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................13
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................13
Description.........................................................................................................................................................14
Data Modes........................................................................................................................................................15
Calibration..........................................................................................................................................................15
VM3608A/3616A Specifications.......................................................................................................................16
SECTION 2 ...................................................................................................................................................................19
PREPARATION FOR USE............................................................................................................................................19
Installation..........................................................................................................................................................19
Calculating System Power and Cooling Requirements ......................................................................................19
Setting the Chassis Backplane Jumpers..............................................................................................................19
Setting the Logical Address ...............................................................................................................................20
Front Panel Interface Wiring..............................................................................................................................20
Mating Connectors.............................................................................................................................................22
SECTION 3 ...................................................................................................................................................................23
PROGRAMMING........................................................................................................................................................23
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................23
Notation..............................................................................................................................................................24
Data Setup and Scan Lists..................................................................................................................................25
Normal Mode ................................................................................................................................................25
FIFO Mode....................................................................................................................................................25
Arbitrary Waveform Generator Mode...........................................................................................................25
Scan Mode.....................................................................................................................................................25
Examples of SCPI Commands ...........................................................................................................................26
CALibration:COUNt? ...................................................................................................................................26
CALibration:DATA ......................................................................................................................................27
CALibration:GAIN........................................................................................................................................28
CALibration:SECure:CODE .........................................................................................................................29
CALibration:SECure:STATe ........................................................................................................................30
CALibration:STORe......................................................................................................................................31
CALibration:STORe:AUTO .........................................................................................................................32
CALibration:ZERO.......................................................................................................................................33
FORMat.........................................................................................................................................................34
MEMory:SETup............................................................................................................................................35
SCAN............................................................................................................................................................36
SCAN:LIMit..................................................................................................................................................37
SCAN:TABLe...............................................................................................................................................38

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4 VM3608A/3616A Preface
SCAN:TABLe:LOCation..............................................................................................................................39
SOURce:VOLTage:DATA ...........................................................................................................................40
SOURce:VOLTage:LEVel............................................................................................................................41
SOURce:VOLTage:SETup ...........................................................................................................................42
TRIGger:SLOPe............................................................................................................................................43
TRIGger:SOURce .........................................................................................................................................44
APPLICATION EXAMPLES .........................................................................................................................................45
REGISTER ACCESS ...................................................................................................................................................47
Programming the DACs via Register access......................................................................................................47
VXIPLUG&PLAY DRIVER .........................................................................................................................................50
Programming the VM3608A/3616A using VXIplug&play Drivers...................................................................50
Overview............................................................................................................................................................50
Outputting a Single Value..................................................................................................................................50
Outputting from the Scan List............................................................................................................................51
Outputting an Arbitrary Waveform....................................................................................................................51
Outputting Data using FIFO Mode.....................................................................................................................54
VXIPLUG&PLAY DRIVER EXAMPLES .......................................................................................................................56
SECTION 4 ...................................................................................................................................................................61
COMMAND DICTIONARY..........................................................................................................................................61
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................61
Alphabetical Command Listing..........................................................................................................................61
Command Dictionary.........................................................................................................................................66
IEEE 488.2 COMMON COMMANDS..........................................................................................................................67
*CLS ..................................................................................................................................................................67
*ESE ..................................................................................................................................................................68
*ESR? ................................................................................................................................................................69
*IDN?.................................................................................................................................................................70
*OPC..................................................................................................................................................................71
*RST ..................................................................................................................................................................72
*SRE ..................................................................................................................................................................73
*STB? ................................................................................................................................................................74
*TRG..................................................................................................................................................................75
*TST?.................................................................................................................................................................76
*WAI..................................................................................................................................................................77
DEVICE SPECIFIC SCPI COMMANDS ........................................................................................................................78
ABORt ...............................................................................................................................................................78
CALibration:COUNt?........................................................................................................................................79
CALibration:DATA ...........................................................................................................................................80
CALibration:GAIN ............................................................................................................................................81
CALibration:SECure:CODE..............................................................................................................................82
CALibration:SECure:STATe.............................................................................................................................83
CALibration:STORe ..........................................................................................................................................84
CALibration:STORe:AUTO..............................................................................................................................85
CALibration:ZERO............................................................................................................................................86
FORMat .............................................................................................................................................................87
INITiate..............................................................................................................................................................88
MEMory:SETup.................................................................................................................................................89
MEMory:SIZE? .................................................................................................................................................90
OUTPut:TTLTrg................................................................................................................................................91
OUTPut:TTLTrg:SOURce.................................................................................................................................92
SCAN.................................................................................................................................................................93
SCAN OFF.........................................................................................................................................................94
SCAN:LIMit ......................................................................................................................................................95
SCAN:TABLe....................................................................................................................................................96
SCAN:TABLe:LOCation...................................................................................................................................97

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VM3608A/3616A Preface 5
SOURce:MARKer:SYNC:SLOPe .....................................................................................................................98
SOURce:MARKer:SYNC:STATe.....................................................................................................................99
SOURce:MARKer:TRIGger............................................................................................................................100
SOURce:ROSCillator:SLOPe..........................................................................................................................101
SOURce:ROSCillator:SOURce .......................................................................................................................102
SOURce:SEQuence:ADVance.........................................................................................................................103
SOURce:SEQuence:DWELl............................................................................................................................104
SOURce:SEQuence:LENGth...........................................................................................................................105
SOURce:SEQuence:LIST................................................................................................................................106
SOURce:SEQuence:STARt .............................................................................................................................107
SOURce:VOLTage:DATA..............................................................................................................................108
SOURce:VOLTage:FORMat...........................................................................................................................109
SOURce:VOLTage:LEVel...............................................................................................................................110
SOURce:VOLTage:RANGe ............................................................................................................................111
SOURce:VOLTage:SETup..............................................................................................................................112
TRACe:DATA.................................................................................................................................................113
TRACe:DATA:POINt......................................................................................................................................114
TRACe:DEFine................................................................................................................................................115
TRACe:DELete:ALL.......................................................................................................................................116
TRACe:FREE?.................................................................................................................................................117
TRACe:LEVel..................................................................................................................................................118
TRACe:POINts................................................................................................................................................119
TRIGger:IMMediate........................................................................................................................................120
TRIGger:IMMediate:ADVance .......................................................................................................................121
TRIGger:SLOPe...............................................................................................................................................122
TRIGger:SOURce............................................................................................................................................123
TRIGger:TIMer................................................................................................................................................124
REQUIRED SCPI COMMANDS.................................................................................................................................125
STATus:OPERation:CONDition?....................................................................................................................125
STATus:OPERation:ENABle..........................................................................................................................126
STATus:OPERation:EVENt? ..........................................................................................................................127
STATus:PRESet...............................................................................................................................................128
STATus:QUEStionable:CONDition? ..............................................................................................................129
STATus:QUEStionable:ENABle.....................................................................................................................130
STATus:QUEStionable:EVENt.......................................................................................................................131
SYSTem:ERRor?.............................................................................................................................................132
SYSTem:VERSion?.........................................................................................................................................133
INDEX ........................................................................................................................................................................135

VTI Instruments Corp.
6 VM3608A/3616A Preface

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VM3608A/3616A Preface 7
CERTIFICATION
VXI Technology, Inc. (VTI) certifies that this product met its published specifications at the time of shipment from
the factory. VTI further certifies that its calibration measurements are traceable to the United States National
Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly National Bureau of Standards), to the extent allowed by that
organization’s calibration facility, and to the calibration facilities of other International Standards Organization
members.
WARRANTY
The product referred to herein is warranted against defects in material and workmanship for a period of three years
from the receipt date of the product at customer’s facility. The sole and exclusive remedy for breach of any warranty
concerning these goods shall be repair or replacement of defective parts, or a refund of the purchase price, to be
determined at the option of VTI.
For warranty service or repair, this product must be returned to a VTI authorized service center. The product shall be
shipped prepaid to VTI and VTI shall prepay all returns of the product to the buyer. However, the buyer shall pay all
shipping charges, duties, and taxes for products returned to VTI from another country.
VTI warrants that its software and firmware designated by VTI for use with a product will execute its programming
when properly installed on that product. VTI does not however warrant that the operation of the product, or software,
or firmware will be uninterrupted or error free.
LIMITATION OF WARRANTY
The warranty shall not apply to defects resulting from improper or inadequate maintenance by the buyer, buyer-
supplied products or interfacing, unauthorized modification or misuse, operation outside the environmental
specifications for the product, or improper site preparation or maintenance.
VTI shall not be liable for injury to property other than the goods themselves. Other than the limited warranty stated
above, VTI makes no other warranties, express, or implied, with respect to the quality of product beyond the
description of the goods on the face of the contract. VTI specifically disclaims the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subdivision (b)(3)(ii) of the
Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause in DFARS 252.227-7013.
VXI Technology, Inc.
2031 Main Street
Irvine, CA 92614-6509 U.S.A.

VTI Instruments Corp.
8 VM3608A/3616A Preface
DE C L A R A T I O N O F CO N F O R M I T Y
Declaration of Conformity According to EN ISO/IEC 17050-1:2004
MANUFACTURER’S NAME VTI Instruments
MANUFACTURER’S ADDRESS 2031 Main Street
Irvine, California 92614-6509
PRODUCT NAME Digital-to-Analog Converter
MODEL NUMBER(S) VM3608A & VM3616A
PRODUCT OPTIONS All
PRODUCT CONFIGURATIONS All
VTI Instruments (formerly VXI Technology) declares that the aforementioned product conforms
to the requirements of the Low Voltage directive (European Council directive 2014/35/EU, dated
22 July 1993) and the Electromagnetic Compatibility directive (European Council directive
2014/30/EU; generally referred to as the EMC directive). In substantiation, the products were
tested and/or evaluated to the standards shown below:
SAFETY EN61010-1:2010
EMC EN61326-1:2013
EN55011 Class A Group 1
EN61000-4-2
EN61000-4-3
EN61000-4-4
EN61000-4-5
EN61000-4-6
EN61000-4-8
EN61000-4-11
CISPR 22
June 2016
Steve Mauga, QA Manager

www.vtiinstruments.com
VM3608A/3616A Preface 9
GENERAL SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
Review the following safety precautions to avoid bodily injury and/or damage to the product.
These precautions must be observed during all phases of operation or service of this product.
Failure to comply with these precautions, or with specific warnings elsewhere in this manual,
violates safety standards of design, manufacture, and intended use of the product.
Service should only be performed by qualified personnel.
TERMS AND SYMBOLS
These terms may appear in this manual:
WARNING
Indicates that a procedure or condition may cause bodily injury or death.
CAUTION
Indicates that a procedure or condition could possibly cause damage to
equipment or loss of data.
These symbols may appear on the product:
ATTENTION - Important safety instructions
Frame or chassis ground
Indicates that the product was manufactured after August 13, 2005. This mark is
placed in accordance with EN 50419, Marking of electrical and electronic
equipment in accordance with Article 11(2) of Directive 2002/96/EC (WEEE).
End-of-life product can be returned to VTI by obtaining an RMA number. Fees
for take-back and recycling will apply if not prohibited by national law.
WARNINGS
Follow these precautions to avoid injury or damage to the product:
Use Proper Power Cord
To avoid hazard, only use the power cord specified for this product.
Use Proper Power Source
To avoid electrical overload, electric shock, or fire hazard, do not
use a power source that applies other than the specified voltage.
Use Proper Fuse
To avoid fire hazard, only use the type and rating fuse specified for
this product.

VTI Instruments Corp.
10 VM3608A/3616A Preface
WARNINGS (CONT.)
Avoid Electric Shock
To avoid electric shock or fire hazard, do not operate this product
with the covers removed. Do not connect or disconnect any cable,
probes, test leads, etc. while they are connected to a voltage source.
Remove all power and unplug unit before performing any service.
Service should only be performed by qualified personnel.
Ground the Product
This product is grounded through the grounding conductor of the
power cord. To avoid electric shock, the grounding conductor must
be connected to earth ground.
Operating Conditions
To avoid injury, electric shock or fire hazard:
-
Do not operate in wet or damp conditions.
-
Do not operate in an explosive atmosphere.
-
Operate or store only in specified temperature range.
-
Provide proper clearance for product ventilation to prevent
overheating.
-
DO NOT operate if any damage to this product is suspected.
Product should be inspected or serviced only by qualified
personnel.