Knowledge Base DC Power Supplies

How to install DP800 Option Licenses

Posted on: December 16th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
16/12/2020
DP800 series power supply provides the following options:    High Res: 1mV/1mA Resolution option for the DP800 Family    Interface: RS2322 and LAN interface option for DP800 Family    AFK: Detect and Analyze option for the DP800 Family  ...

DP800 Channel Track

Posted on: December 16th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
16/12/2020
The track capability allows the DP800 to have channel 1 and channel 2 create the same amount of power while only changing one channel, this allows customers to quickly adjust their desired power.  To enable this feature you need to press the Track button on the bottom right hand side of the display when presented with the main working window.  With Track enable both channel 1 and channel 2 will ...

DP700 series Power Supply Maximum Trigger Input Voltage

Posted on: December 16th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
16/12/2020
Pin 8 of the RS232 interface on the rear panel is used to receive the external trigger input signal. When it receives a high level signal (≥ 2.1 V, 10 mA), the channel output will be turned on. If 8 volts or greater is applied damage to the power supply I/O circuit can result....

DP800 Timer File Format

Posted on: December 16th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
16/12/2020
The DP800 can load Timer files that are created externally, these timer files need to be saved as CSV files and can be created using Excel.  Below shows an example of a timer file.  Note that the file cannot exceed 2048 steps. ...

How to use the Timer Function on the DP800

Posted on: December 16th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
16/12/2020
The timer function can be used on the DP800A or the DP800 series if a Timer option has been installed. To create a Timer file on the instrument, press the “Timer” button and then press “Timer Set”.  Once you are in the Timer Set to enter a value you need to pre...

Serial Cable for the DP700 series Power Supply

Posted on: December 16th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
16/12/2020
The DP700 series power supplies have a single serial I/O port. If you plan on programming the DP700 power supply from a PC you will need a USB to serial cable. An example is pictured here: ...

Testing Open Socket Communications Using PuTTY

Posted on: December 15th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
15/12/2020
Many instruments include the ability to be controlled via a remote connection to a computer using an Ethernet connection. In many cases, these instruments require a special software library that can help establish and maintain the communications link between the instrument and controlling computer. This can be annoying for a few reasons… the software library is likely to occupy a large amount of...

Verification of a LAN connection using Telnet

Posted on: December 15th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
15/12/2020
Automating a test can dramatically increase the productivity, throughput, and accuracy of a process. Automating a setup involves connecting a computer to the test instrumentation using a standard communications bus like USB or LAN and then utilizing code entered via a software layer (like LabVIEW, .NET, Python, etc..) to sequence the specific instrument commands and process data. This process n...

Programming Example: List connected VISA compatible resources using PyVISA

Posted on: December 15th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
15/12/2020
PyVISA is a software library that enables Python applications to communicate with resources (typically instruments) connected to a controlling computer using different buses, including: GPIB, RS-232, LAN, and USB. This example scans and lists the available resources. It requires PyVISA to be installed (see the PyVISA documentation for more information) *** #Example that scans a compute...

Power Supply Design: Load Step Response with a SIGLENT DC Electronic Load

Posted on: December 14th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
14/12/2020
Building a power supply that can handle various loads without oscillating can be a challenge. Computational models and computer simulations can help get your design headed in the right direction, but physical testing is essential to proving the performance of your design. One method of quickly determining stability is to use a load step response. In this test, a DC electronic load is used to...

Programming Example: Open Socket LAN connection using Python

Posted on: December 14th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
14/12/2020
Automating a test can dramatically increase the productivity, throughput, and accuracy of a process. Automating a setup involves connecting a computer to the test instrumentation using a standard communications bus like USB or LAN and then utilizing code entered via a software layer (like LabVIEW, .NET, Python, etc..) to sequence the specific instrument commands and process data. In this note, ...

Programming Example: Using VXI11 (LXI) and Python for LAN control without sockets

Posted on: December 14th, 2020 by Doug Lovell
14/12/2020
In an effort to meet the demands of remote monitoring and control, modern test instrumentation is leveraging more communications busses and than ever before. Each type of bus can also have numerous layers that can be utilized for specific advantages. The VXI bus and subsequent software drivers form a convenient software API that can make remote control of instrumentation over LAN quite simple...