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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Plot Anritsu MS2668C with Prologix GPIB interface and KE5FX 7470 Plotter Emulator

One of our Spectrum Analyser here at work is an old but good Anritsu MS2668C.
For the uninitiated, a spectrum analyser plots power on the Y axis against frequency on the X axis.  The MS2668 can operate from 9kHz to 40GHz. 

The problem is that while one can view the result on its nice colour screen, the unit does not have a ethernet port or a USB port.  It has a serial port and a GPIB port.  Those of us with grey hair know GPIB.  We also know what a plotter is. 

A plotter is a thig of the 70's and 80's where a pen was driven around on a piece of paper by a computer.  HP now a maker of computers made several models with model numbers like 7470 and 7474 as I recall.

We have a Prologix GPIB to USB interface and a Mr John Mills http://www.ke5fx.com has a suit of handy and free programs that talk to GPIB instruments via the Prologix board.

These are the things I did to get the Anritsu MS2668C to plot to a file on my Windows 8.0 Laptop.




Downloaded the latest program from KE5FX and installed it.
On the Prologix board, set the Dip switch to "Controller".
Plugged in the USB lead.
Ran the Prologix USB Configurator program
Clicked on the device In my case - Com 5 (USB Serial Port)
Clicked "Update Connect.ini"
Observed where it put connect.ini
c:\users\frank_000\AppData\Local\KE5FX\GPIB\connect.ini
Edited connect.ini with Notepad++ & set is_prologix to 0 (was 1)
saved it.
Unplugged USB cable
Set DIP switch to "Device"
Plugged USB in
Ran "HP7470 Emulator"

On the Anritsu MS2668C
Pressed Shift (blue button) + Interface (dot key on numeric key pad)
Set the menus as follows
RS232C Setup - not touched
GPIB My Address   = 18
-
Connect to Controller = None
Connect to Prt/Plt       = GPIB
Connect to Peripheral = None
Menu -> Off
Pressed "Copy" (Left hand side of screen)
And walla it worked!
Everyone was happy and the universe was restored.

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