New Agilent 34461A 6.5 Digit Bench Multimeter

[KedasProbe]

I agree if they offer AC+DC then they should obviously also have DC and AC only.
I just find it strange that it's missing AC+DC for a new device and mention the relation to what the function generator was generating.
You can measure them separately and add(rms) them together on your calculator though. (so it's not that you can't determine it)

[EEVblog]

New firmware just released:
http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/software.jspx?ckey=2367633&lc=eng&cc=US&nid=-536902435.1058513&id=2367633

Changes:

Revision 1.09 Enhancements and Changes
1. Reduces DMM boot time from ~ 50 seconds to < 30 seconds.
2. Adds a query which returns the DMM power on duration since the last power cycle. This is accessed
from the front panel by pressing:
Shift ? Utility ? Test/Admin ? Calibrate ? Show Uptime
or by sending the command: SYSTem:UPTime?
3. Adds the ability to turn off the key “click” when a front panel key is pressed. This is accessed from the
front panel by pressing:
Shift ? Utility ? System Setup ? User Settings ? Sounds ? Key Click (Off/On)
or by sending the command:
SYSTem:CLICk:STATe (OFF/ON)
4. Now displays the current level associated with diode measurements.
5. Resolved a defect such that a wildcard (*) used with MMEM: or MMEM:DEL now operates in the
same manner.
6. Resolved a defect such that sending a Device Clear while *TST? or TEST:ALL? is in progress no longer
locks up the instrument. 2
7. Resolved a defect such that sending a Device Clear while a self-test in in progress no longer causes
-310, “System error” and/or self-test failed errors.
8. Modified the message regarding changes to the DMM’s LAN Services to avoid confusion. For new
service settings to take effect, press:
Done ? Apply Changes
and then cycle power.
9. Resolved a defect such that DISPlay:VIEW TCHart will now display data independent of the
CALCulate:AVERage:STATe setting.
10. Resolved a defect such that DATA:REMove? No longer intermittently generates -230, “Data corrupt
or stale” errors when sufficient readings are available.
11. Resolved a defect such that selecting Default Preferences from the front panel:
Shift ? Utility ? Store/Recall ? Set to Defaults ? Default Pref
now sets the default ‘Easy File Access’ setting (OFF).

[EEVblog]

I can confirm it boots in about 30 seconds now. Much better.

[ben_r_]

Nice. Now that I think I could just barely starting living with.

[plesa]

Okay, figured it out, here is a quick and dirty hack that reads one sample per 120us. Or, well, every 100us if you live in the US or western Japan (or is it eastern, I forget...)

Code: [Select]

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <visa.h>
#include <Windows.h>

int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
ViSession rm;
viOpenDefaultRM(&rm);
ViSession v34410;

FILE *fp;
FILE *fcsv;
long int start_time, end_time;
       
int i;
const int readings_size = 1000;
double readings[readings_size];

fp = fopen("data.tmp", "w+b");
if (fp == NULL)
{
printf("Unable to open data.tmp.\n");
return(1);
}

//Change the VISA instrument address to that found by Agilent Connection Expert
viOpen(rm, "USB0::0x0957::0x0607::my47032312::0::INSTR", VI_NULL, VI_NULL, &v34410);

viPrintf(v34410, "*RST\n");
Sleep(100);
viPrintf(v34410, "*CLS\n");

//viPrintf(v34410, ":SYSTem:REMote\n");
       
// Configure for low resolution, 4.5 digits
viPrintf(v34410, ":CONFigure:VOLTage:DC %s\n", "1");
viPrintf(v34410, ":SENSe:VOLTage:DC:NPLCycles %@3lf\n", 0.006);

// Disable autorange, enter voltage range value
viPrintf(v34410, ":SENSe:VOLTage:DC:RANGe:AUTO %@1d\n", 0);
viPrintf(v34410, ":SENSe:VOLTage:DC:RANGe %@3lf\n", 5.0);

// Disable autozero mode
viPrintf(v34410, ":SENSe:ZERO:AUTO %s\n", "OFF");

// Turn off display and internal measurement statistics
viPrintf(v34410, ":CALCulate:STATe %@1d\n", 0);
viPrintf(v34410, ":DISPlay %@1d\n", 0);

// little endian mode
//viPrintf(v34410, ":FORMat:BORDer %s\n", "SWAPped");
//viPrintf(v34410, ":FORMat:DATA %s\n", "REAL,64");

// Set trigger delay to zero so DMM immediately takes readings.
viPrintf(v34410, ":TRIGger:DELay %@3lf\n", 0.0);
viPrintf(v34410, ":TRIGger:COUNt %s\n", "INF"); // infinite readings
viPrintf(v34410, ":SAMPle:COUNt %@1d\n", 10000);

// start sampling
viPrintf(v34410, ":INITiate:IMMediate\n");
start_time = GetTickCount();

int points;
long int point_count = 0;

for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++)
{
// wait for buffer to fill
do
{
Sleep(75);
viQueryf(v34410, ":DATA:POIN?", "%d", &points);
} while (points < 2000);

viQueryf(v34410, ":DATA:REM? 1000\n", "%,#lf", &readings_size, readings);

fwrite(&readings, sizeof(readings), 1, fp);
point_count += 1000;
}
end_time = GetTickCount();

// finish sampling
viPrintf(v34410, ":ABORt\n");
viPrintf(v34410, ":DISPlay %@1d\n", 1);

printf("Total readings:\t%ld\n", point_count);
printf("Total time:\t%f s\n", (double)(end_time - start_time) / 1000);
printf("Finished.\r\n");

//Close instrument session
viClose(v34410);
viClose(rm);

printf("Converting to CSV...\n");

fcsv = fopen("data.csv", "w");
if (fcsv == NULL)
{
printf("Unable to open data.tmp.\n");
return(1);
}

fseek(fp, 0, SEEK_SET);

double d;
double time_ms = 0;

while (!feof(fp))
{
fread(&d, sizeof(d), 1, fp);
fprintf(fcsv, "%f,%f\n", time_ms, d);
time_ms += 0.12; // 120us
}

printf("Conversion complete, measurement period %f ms.\n", time_ms);

fclose(fp);
fclose(fcsv);

return 0;
}


Is it for continuous reading or there is some time period which is not covered - during reading data?

[neslekkim]

So, I got this meter the other day, lots of things to learn, looks like an very decent meter.

But, I have an fluke, with thermocouple adapter, and an thermocouple beadprobe, For some reason, that adapter does not fit this meter (physically), and, it seems that this meter is not compatible with ktype thermocouples?, only thermistor?, and rtd's?

[ielektros]

Yes. The 34461 is not compatible with K-type thermocouples. I bought same DMM yesterday.

Very good multimeter. The first impressions are quiet good. Only I can't  use with Windows8.1 and BenchVue together. I tried a whole day to configure without results.  Thats make me crazy a little bit...

[ben_r_]

So, I got this meter the other day, lots of things to learn, looks like an very decent meter.

But, I have an fluke, with thermocouple adapter, and an thermocouple beadprobe, For some reason, that adapter does not fit this meter (physically), and, it seems that this meter is not compatible with ktype thermocouples?, only thermistor?, and rtd's?

Yea this was a let down for me too. The only Agilent device of any reasonable price I found that will use and log thermocouples was one of their DataLoggers which was quite expensive and required accessories to make it work. Not ideal at all. Thats why I picked up a Fluke 53 II B for my thermocouple and datalogging needs. My Fluke 289 will do it as well but only with K-Type thermocouples and half the accuracy of the Fluke 51, 52, 53, 54 series.

[neslekkim]

And the Agilent is an benchmeter, not needing to feed the batteries.. i have av 289 also, but I was not very crazy about the whole deal around the expensive proprietary software for datalogging from Fluke.

I wonder if that is something that could change through an firmware update, it's just voltages to be measured..
But It seems like the distance between the terminals is slightly different than on the fluke meters, since I cannot push the thermocouple adapter in? or is the meter to new?

[HKJ]

it's just voltages to be measured..

Not just voltage, you must also measure the temperature of the connection.

[ben_r_]

And the Agilent is an benchmeter, not needing to feed the batteries.. i have av 289 also, but I was not very crazy about the whole deal around the expensive proprietary software for datalogging from Fluke.

I wonder if that is something that could change through an firmware update, it's just voltages to be measured..
But It seems like the distance between the terminals is slightly different than on the fluke meters, since I cannot push the thermocouple adapter in? or is the meter to new?

Its a bit more than just measuring the voltages unfortunately. Read the wiki on thermocouples and youll see what I mean. That beaing said, the $135 (LINK) FlukeView software with the cable isnt really too bad a price considering its cheaper than a good quality dedicated digital thermocouple based thermometer (like the Fluke 50 series). And you can use the software with a number of other devices and on your 289 you can use it for all types of other logging. Personally I cant imagine owning a 289 without it.

[Sparky]

I'm interested!  I have 34461A and it would be great to have flexibility to stream data from it, so I'd be interested in testing if it works, or the changes needed.  Could you upload your project to GitHub?  Thanks!

[plesa]

Does anybody knows how to add the timestamp to .csv logging?

[Sparky]

Does anybody knows how to add the timestamp to .csv logging?

I am not sure, but mojo-chan has done a fair bit of work with the 34461A; I'm still hoping he will report back with his updated script for streaming 10kS/sec from the multimeter.

[plesa]

Thanks, I was probably not clear enough. I mean for logging to USB drive.
Some fast digitizing can be useful. But without details it is useles :-)
For such a fast reading I suppose that LAN is only one option.
There were some app notes related to digitizing with 34411A.

[Sparky]

Okay, no worries!  Thanks for the update and tips!  Love your application of the 34410A for streaming high accuracy current / voltage measurements from battery powered devices!  Neat!

I will play with the 34461A, and see what can be created with MATLAB!

[plesa]

Interesting with 34411A is USB only little bit slower than LAN
32-bit Binary
GPIB 89,000
USB 265,000
VXI 110,000
LAN 270,000

[Sparky]

Thanks mojo-chan!  I looked for your screenshots earlier, but didn't find any.  Thanks for posting some!

This is the first time I've heard of KST (http://kst-plot.kde.org/) and it looks like an awesome data visualization tool --- cross-platform and free, too!

If I understand correctly, you did not integrate the "data logging" into a KST application.  Rather, you have a separate (command line) utility to start/stop the data sampling from the Agilent DMM, and save the results to text file.  Then, you use the KST to show the results.

I suppose it could be possible to build a KST application with the data logging integrated with it, so that real-time plotting was possible?

[neslekkim]

I have been searching around to find documentations and sample code for programming against the 34461A, the Agilent website is useless, I'm not finding much and it seems like some information are scattered around.

On this blogpost I found an link with more info than the productpage for the 34461:
http://gpete-neil.blogspot.no/2013/11/continuous-measurements-with-34461a.html

And on this there is an link to some C# code, but when I download the archive mentioned here, it does not contain the same samples as discussed on the blog:
http://gpete-neil.blogspot.no/2014/03/scpi-programming-with-visual-studio.html

Does it exist anything better than this?, for instance, is it not possible to get binary data from the meter?, on some it seems you can use somehting like:

FORMat:DATA:REAL,32

or something like that to get binary?

[Sparky]

Interesting with 34411A is USB only little bit slower than LAN
32-bit Binary
GPIB 89,000
USB 265,000
VXI 110,000
LAN 270,000

The numbers quoted by plesa are from the 34411A data sheet, page 4 (which I've attached).  These speeds are specific to readout from of data memory ("Path B"), not coming from the ADC ("Path C") -- see pic on page 4.

It would help everyone to quote where you get the values from, or if they are your own measurements.

[dc101]

Thanks many for the links!  I've been looking for an easy solution to chart data for the past month.  I recently got a DC load and wanted to make some voltage vs time plots of batteries.  This looks like just the program.

[alex.forencich]

I have been searching around to find documentations and sample code for programming against the 34461A, the Agilent website is useless, I'm not finding much and it seems like some information are scattered around.

On this blogpost I found an link with more info than the productpage for the 34461:
http://gpete-neil.blogspot.no/2013/11/continuous-measurements-with-34461a.html

And on this there is an link to some C# code, but when I download the archive mentioned here, it does not contain the same samples as discussed on the blog:
http://gpete-neil.blogspot.no/2014/03/scpi-programming-with-visual-studio.html

Does it exist anything better than this?, for instance, is it not possible to get binary data from the meter?, on some it seems you can use somehting like:

FORMat:DATA:REAL,32

or something like that to get binary?

I think for most instruments, the format command will affect all calls to read out data.  So if that format:data command puts it in 32 bit floating point format, then all subsequent calls to readout methods should return data in that format.  Just make sure you read it out correctly, it may have an IEEE block format header that needs to be stripped off. 

[neslekkim]

My point is that there is no docmented Format function in this "manual"


Do Anyone know how to unpack the firmware upd file?, so I could extract the strings out from that?

[plesa]

I have been searching around to find documentations and sample code for programming against the 34461A, the Agilent website is useless, I'm not finding much and it seems like some information are scattered around.

On this blogpost I found an link with more info than the productpage for the 34461:
http://gpete-neil.blogspot.no/2013/11/continuous-measurements-with-34461a.html

And on this there is an link to some C# code, but when I download the archive mentioned here, it does not contain the same samples as discussed on the blog:
http://gpete-neil.blogspot.no/2014/03/scpi-programming-with-visual-studio.html

Does it exist anything better than this?, for instance, is it not possible to get binary data from the meter?, on some it seems you can use somehting like:

FORMat:DATA:REAL,32

or something like that to get binary?

It is quite usable link, thanks for sharing. It looks like Agilent semi-official blog.
I will try it and compare the 34461A and 34411A performance.

[Sparky]

It is quite usable link, thanks for sharing. It looks like Agilent semi-official blog.
I will try it and compare the 34461A and 34411A performance.

Will be great to see your results!  I have 34461A (which its data sheet lists the streaming data rate at 1kS/sec), but 34411A is a beast!  Very interested to read about your findings.