GW Instek equipment OK, Supplied software stinks! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: lmester
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2017, 05:59:04 am
content: I recently purchased some used GW Instek equipment. It came from the ITT bankruptcy. The quality of the equipment is fairly good. The supplied software is really crappy.I purchased a GDM-8251A multimeter, GPD3303S power supply, and a GSP-810 spectrum analyzer.The software for the GPD-3303S power supply fails with an error and won't even talk to the power supply. I used a terminal emulator to connect to it and had no problems.The GDM8251A multimeter software will connect to the meter. Data logging does not allow a full path for the destination file. Also, the file name will always append a time stamp. I don't see any way to select the destination directory for the log file. I can't find any way to change this behavior. Also, some intermittent comm problems. This software is buggy and just not ready for release.For the GSP-810 spectrum analyzer. The software fails asking for a license code. Not a big problem for me since the price was really low. I'd be really pissed off if I'd paid the full price for this instrument and then got held up for some more $$ to use the data capture software with it.I know that Instek is not top of the line equipment. It's also not way down in the cheap Chinese junk category. A little bit of software testing would make their products look much better.Also, I've found a hardware problem with the GPD3303S power supply. When it's fixed voltage output recovers from a short, the output has a large overshoot. It might destroy voltage sensitive circuits.FYI, I'm testing the software on a Windows 7 64 bit computer.Finally, What do you think about GW Instek equipment and software? Does the software suck for you? Maybe it's just some strange problem with my PC.

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2017, 09:37:01 am
content: According to the software instructions for the GDM8251A multimeter software, the file is saved in the folder where the software is installed. See page 21.http://eeshop.unl.edu/pdf/GDM-8200A_software.pdfI also found the manual if needed.http://eeshop.unl.edu/pdf/GDM-8255AEE1_manual.pdfSounds like they are OK equipment with the same typical config issues as other mid priced stuff.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2017, 07:30:48 pm
content: The PC software for all test equipment sucks no matter which brand it is. The software is provided as some kind of courtesy but since it is not a source of revenue don't expect miracles. If you need good software to control an instrument either buy a package or write it yourself.

author: lmester
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2017, 11:49:18 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on March 19, 2017, 07:30:48 pmThat makes sense. There's no money in it. It's probably best just to consider the supplied software as a demo of the instrument's remote control. Not as fully functional usable software.I've already written software for some HP equipment. I'll be doing the same for the Instek equipment. When I write it myself it does exactly what I want. There's also a 100% guarantee that It'll run on my PC

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2017, 03:35:27 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on March 19, 2017, 07:30:48 pmI disagree. You could apply the same argument to manuals or customer service. Yet there are clearly manufacturers making better manuals and having better service.For the PC-based instruments the software is obviously important to many customers. Software for some logic analyzers (e.g. Saleae) is not terrible. Same applies I imagine to Picoscope.Windows software for some Tektronix and Agilent logic analyzers is the same as runs on the stand-alone scopes, so is quite usable in my opinion. I did not have issues with the Tek and Agilent software for AWGs either (ArbExpress, IntuiLink). Apart from the limits in the free version and range of supported instruments, BenchVue seems to get decent reviews. Tektronix used to publish a version of NI SignalExpress for free that worked with their instruments. Was decent, though with limited features.The software I have seen from Rigol, however, ranged from barely usable to terrible. I have not used any GW-Instek software, so I can't comment about that.Writing your own software is almost always an option, except for manufacturers that do not publish the proper documentation. I am not aware of too many commercial packages that out of the box could do data logging with these kinds of instruments. There is LabView, of course, but that is just another programming environment to develop your own software in.

author: Sirswift76
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 07, 2017, 06:06:57 pm
content: Will this MM's Frequency counter work as well as some of the basic standalone Frequency Counters on the market?

author: usagi
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2017, 07:29:03 pm
content: Quote from: lmester on March 19, 2017, 05:59:04 amtheovershoot problem is known. you have the later "non-gapped" design gpd-3303s which has the bug.Quote from: lmester on March 19, 2017, 05:59:04 amas you stated, decent hardware. awful software. par for the course for the entire test equipment industry unfortunately.

author: tablatronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2017, 08:56:25 pm
content: Yeah the software is aweful but at least it has serial scpi like commands. I have told support about the 3303s issue they are good at responding but suck at followups.The software performs its initial handshake idn gets the info from the ps but then just shoots out a non stop stream of crlfs and says waiting for response or something. Useless, there is no response for that, no command sent just newlines. I think the software is not compatible with later firmware or just bugged. Better off writing your own or making a plugin for something compatible.I have not played with the 8251 software yet.Let me know if you want details , maybe it will work if you can get that first part to stop using a serial redirector.

author: Sirswift76
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 08, 2017, 10:11:42 pm
content: Just spoke with tech at GwInstek about GPD-3303S; he is sending me instructions and firmware upgrade to fix issues.

author: tablatronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2017, 01:30:56 am
content: I am running the latest and they sent me 3 versions of software about 3 months ago. Let me know what you find i had no luck, maybe mine is too old to perform some firmware operation/function

author: tablatronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2017, 01:27:29 pm
content: I just reinstalled the software on a new vm, and it works fine now, not sure if they updated it or not, but I had no luck in the past. Maybe its a driver issue.I did notice if you are manually terminal to it, Mine expects an LF (putty ctrl+j) for newlines. Which makes no sense.