Siglent SDG-2000X alternative software?

[ebastler]

Santa brought an SDG 2042X signal generator. Great little instrument, but the PC software is a weakness. I find the Windows software awkward to use; it needs the bulky NI-VISA runtime to do its (limited) thing; and worst of all, the NI-VISA runtime seems to interfere with the USB connection to my Rigol scope.

Is there any alternative PC software for the Siglent SDGs? I'm happy to prepare waveforms offline, say via an Excel sheet. Just some lightweight way to convert files to the Siglent wave format, and ideally upload them directly (via a USB or LAN connection), would be great.

Thanks for any pointers you might have!

[tautech]

Have a look here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/open-source-lxi-tools-and-liblxi-v1-0-released-for-gnulinux/msg1318434/#msg1318434

More help videos here:
https://www.siglentamerica.com/videos/sdg2000x-series/

[voltsandjolts]

I prefer GNU Octave (similar to MATLAB) for generating arb waveforms.
I have a simple script for creating CSV files which can be loaded to the sig gen by USB stick or via the Siglent easywave software.
Script available here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sdg1000-arbitrary-csv-file-format/msg1973726/#msg1973726

Good purchase BTW, I am very happy with my SDG2042X

[ebastler]

Thank you both, tautech and voltsandjolts!

I had not realized that, when reading from a USB stick, the SDG actually expects CSV files rather than binary data. (Although, with hindsight, the user manual does actually state that.) So transferring a CSV via the USB stick seems like the most straightforward path.

I will experiment with the VXI Tools as well. It looks like I will need to create some additional script to send wave data in the expected format, but avoiding the need to plug and unplug the USB stick repeatedly would be nice.

I'm happy for now; no need to reinstall NI VISA anytime soon! ;-)

[tautech]

I'm happy for now; no need to reinstall NI VISA anytime soon! ;-)

Member beanflying has just gone through the same issues and with further hunting for him there are more drivers available for other SW platforms:
https://www.siglenteu.com/service-and-support/firmware-software/waveform-generators/#sdg2000x-series

[beanflying]

Yep not well documented and NI-VISA is really fat. Perhaps Eblaster rewrite your first post or add any links that come up? The included instructions with the unit are lacking in links.

By comparison my Feeltech Sig Gen managed Graphical Arb Generartion and replicated the front panel controls in under 10Mb Total.