Timeout Error when Reading Measurements from Impedance Analyzer 1260  via NIMax - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Abdul.m
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 16, 2024, 11:06:20 pm
content: Hi,I'm working with a Solartron A1260 Impedance/Gain-Phase Analyzer and attempting to read measurements on the NI MAX interface connected through a PCI bus. The analyzer itself is functioning correctly and can receive"Write"commands, as you can see the measurements on blue screen, but when I try to"Read"these measurements using NI MAX, I encounter a timeout error, as illustrated in the attached screenshot. Thee only command I can read is `*IDN? `. but my goal is to "Read" that simple measurement data of impedance analyzer on NI MAX interface.I have tried adjusting the timeout/Bytes settings and reviewing the connection, but the issue persists. It seems like the main challenge is that I'm not sure about the correct commands to read the measurement data.Here are the details of my setup:- Device Model: Solartron 1260 Impedance/Gain-Phase Analyzer- Connection: Interface through PCIB- Software: NI MAX- Issue: Timeout error EABO during GPIB read operation- Troubleshooting Steps: Adjusted timeout settings, adjusted bytes, changed addresses, checked GPIB command syntax, changed GPIB.I would greatly appreciate any advice on the proper GPIB commands for reading measurements from a Solartron 1260 or any troubleshooting steps that might resolve this timeout error.Thank you in advance for your help!

author: Andy Watson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2024, 11:55:24 pm
content: I have not used the GPIB interface, however, if I remember correctly (and it was 20+ years ago) using the RS232 inteface requires a significant time-delay before the answers are returned from the 1260, i.e. the time-out value must allow sufficient time for the 1260 to start making the requested measurement and time to complete the measurement - which can be seconds, even at the higher frequencies.

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2024, 11:58:17 pm
content: Have you tried different termination characters on both the controller and device side? Some instruments have commmands to enable for example EOT/EOI.

author: Abdul.m
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 17, 2024, 12:18:14 am
content: Thank you for your prompt reply. Yes, i have tried with termination characters \n and \r too but same error response. EOI and EOS are enabled too (screenshot attached)

author: Abdul.m
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 17, 2024, 12:24:31 am
content: Thanks for your prompt response. I've tried increasing the timeout value to account for response delays, but even with ample time, the read operation still ends with the same timeout error.

author: the Chris
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2025, 05:11:09 pm
content: This is probably too late but anyway: you need to use the GPIB dip switches "F1" and "F2" (part of the GPIB address selection on the backside of the instrument) to define the termination character that the instrument will accept. Any other one will be ignored. For most cases, set both switches to "ON" to configure the device for the EOI terminator. This includes the Solartron SMART impedance measurement software. However, if you would like to use the Solartron FRA software to get gain-phase measurements, you need to set BOTH switches (F1 & F2) to "OFF" as the software uses LF ("linefeed") as the terminator character.The possible configurations are as follows:Code:F1 F2 Terminator Selected===============================off off lf (line feed)on off cr (carriage return)off on ; (semicolon)on on EOI (End or Identify signal)Addendum: also very important and a bad pitfall: the Solartron 1260 assigns two GPIB addresses over the same, single physical port it has on the backside. The first address is used for ASCII transfer, the second for binary transfer, to prevent a mix-up of values. However, the first GPIB address is the one being setup via the switches on the backside of the instrument and it must be anEVENnumber, always, which means the address switch "1" must always be in the OFF position (mentioned also in the manual). The pitfall: if you set GPIB adress switch "1" to ON, it will still assign an even number to the first address, but communication will not work.