Help needed programming 34972A Data Acquisition/Switch Unit

[TERRA Operative]

Hi all,

I am currently programming a 34972A Data Acquisition/Switch Unit that contains 3x 34901A modules to scan cell voltages in battery packs.
I am building the configuration file in BenchLink Data Logger 3 and transferring the resulting 'config.blcfg' config file to the instrument with a USB stick and using said stick to save the measured data.

I have the scanning, measuring and saving working fine so far, no problems there, but I'm looking for a way to display messages to the user on the instrument display during and at the end if the scan ("Scanning..." and "Scan Complete" respectively) along with beeps to alert the operator to a finished scan as one scan takes a few minutes to complete.

I know I can do this by directly sending commands to the instrument via an attached computer, but this needs to be a portable solution for field use with a minimum of parts (Hence using the USB stick), so no PC/Raspberry Pi/etc can be used here.


Does anyone have any experience with programming these instruments who can help me out with displaying messages and making beeps when using only the aforementioned USB stick and config file?

[TizianoHV]

Hi, I think that it is not possible (you can do that on newer models).
I have a 34970A (very similar to 34972A) and it will display "SCANNING..." on it's own (you need to disable channel monitoring). But it wont beep when it's done.

Do you need to operate by itself without a PC?

In this videos -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf2EFFERe64, they show an hack to "enable" wireless connection.

[TERRA Operative]

I do need to run it completely standalone from a PC, logging the data to USB.

I'll check the monitoring setting, if I can get it to say 'scanning' as you mention, that would be fine.

[TERRA Operative]

I have a 34970A (very similar to 34972A) and it will display "SCANNING..." on it's own (you need to disable channel monitoring). But it wont beep when it's done.

I'm having trouble getting this to work, do you know the command?

[TizianoHV]

You configure the channels, the interval and you start the scan.

[TERRA Operative]

I'm configuring the 56 channels in use via a 'config.blcfg' file transferred to the unit via USB, not using the front panel (Configuring 56 channels via the front panel would be a nightmare... ).
I need the instrument set up so the technician simply presses the 'Scan' button and the screen says 'Scanning...' or similar during the measurements, then says 'Scan Complete' or similar at the end so they can move the instrument to the next DUT.
The tech cannot be relied upon nor allowed to make any configuration changes. Only to plug the cables from the instrument into the DUT and press 'Scan', then disconnect and rinse and repeat on all DUT's to be measured.

When I apply the config file from the USB stick and press scan, it all works as expected, but I never get the 'Scanning...' display, only the 'mux VDC' as shown in the video before he starts the scan.

So I made a simple 3 channel program from the front panel set to automatically loop a few times and found it doesn't say 'Scanning' on the first run through, but does so on subsequent scans. It also does the same no matter how I load the program into the instrument, via PC connection, USB memory stick or front panel.
As my large program runs only once at a time, it never shows 'Scanning' as it never gets to a second scan. I wonder why it never says 'Scanning' on the first run-through? A bug or my misconfiguration somewhere? (I'm running v1.17 firmware, the latest I think?)

[TizianoHV]

I cheched with my 34970A and it displays "SCANNING..." only after the first scan too, it shouldn't be a bug (maybe they did that to increase single scan speed).
But the "SCAN" notifier lights up immediately when you start scanning and it disappears at the end. It seems clear enough to me.

[TERRA Operative]

Yeah, bit of a bummer... From my experience dealing with end-users, you can't have enough simple bright signs right in their face to get the point across...
The small annunciator amongst the other stuff shown on the display does the job, but a big line of text would be ideal to reduce the risk of confusion. (I'll have to be careful to be clear when I write the manual, in Japanese.... haha  )