Rigol DP832 Software issues - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: stuartk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2014, 12:53:03 am
content: Hi,I'm the owner of a brand spanking new DP832A power supply and I'm semi-discouraged by the complete and utter lack of PC software.My intention is to pull some data out of the beast and graph it in Excel. The recorder/analyzer function makes a pretty graph or list on the instrument screen, of voltage/current/power but pulling the data out and getting it onto a PC is not entirely obvious to me.I was able to the export data onto my USB stick as an .rof file from the recorder/analyzer function.Does anyone know how to extract the data from the .rof file? What application is required?Thanks to all,Stuart

author: georges80
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2014, 02:02:11 am
content: I have a DP1116A and to get data from it via the 'network':Install Rigol's UltraSigma software AND also install UltraPower (separate install).Connect ethernet cable from your power supply to your network.Run the software (mine runs on a laptop that wifi connects to my network). Connect to your power supply via the LAN button (search should find it).Then right click on your power supply and run UltraPower. There's buttons on there to control your unit and also to start/stop logging data. You can then export (down arrow icon) to CSV etc.cheers,george.

author: jc101
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2014, 06:06:29 pm
content: Sadly it looks like UltraPower is only for the DP1xxx series, anyone tried against a DP8xx series?Downloading it anyway, might give a try tomorrow if I get time...

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2014, 08:58:17 pm
content: Is there no VISA driver for this PSU? Why do they sell it with a GPIB and LXI(Ethernet) interface unless it has VISA drivers for it?I've got one on order and totally expect a USB VISA driver. Though I haven't had much luck with my Siglent SDG1025 or Hantek MSO5102D so far.LeCroy appear to have VISA LabVIEW drivers for their version of the SDG1025 (WaveStation 2000 series).

author: stuartk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2014, 09:03:54 pm
content: Hi George,I just tried Ultra Power both on LAN or USB. My Lan recognizes the DP832A with no difficulty. Gives me a pretty, but currently useless LAN info page in my browser. Ultra Power installs OK.Unfortunately it is not a choice when you click on the DP832A under Ultra Sigma and I can't run it.I had the DP800A VISA drivers initially, then I installed the DP1116A driver, but to no avail.Thanks,Stuart

author: stuartk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2014, 09:10:21 pm
content: QuoteYes the drivers exist on the Rigol website to presumably allow you to make your own software under Labview or Matlab.No software is supplied with the unit.I wish Rigol had a Bench Vue type application.

author: georges80
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2014, 11:30:43 pm
content: Yeah, unfortunately the UltraPower program doesn't appear to support the dp832. I had ASSumed that since Rigol supported the reasonably 'old' dp1116A that the dp832 would have been supported as well... silly me...Looks like the only option at this point is to write your own software - what a pain!cheers,george.

author: stuartk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2014, 12:18:33 am
content: Unless of course some one knows how to extract the data from an .rof file saved to a USB key.....

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 25, 2014, 07:53:04 pm
content: honestly I didn't understand why Rigol release that crap that they call software. They could release a good software and make happy many customers.

author: stuartk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2014, 02:30:37 am
content: QuoteYes it's a concern of mine as well. I own a Rigol DP832A, DM3058E and a slightly modified DS2102.Of the 3 Rigol pieces, the only one that I regret buying is the DM3058E multimeter. I really could use the trend function and software of the Agilent 34461A. Even at twice the price, I should have purchased it and probably still will when my wife's looking the other wayI have no intention of returning my 832A. Rigol makes good hardware for the money, but they lack in software. The software is valuable to me as I wish I had the Labview skills/budget to roll my own.In any case after using the 832A I think it needs two main software functions:1- To export data from the analyzer function to Excel (preferably not via a USB key as they left THAT connector inconveniently located in the BACK of the unit)2- A program to edit the groups in the timer function from the PC. Doing it with the 832's key's is like programming a 1980's VCR! It's a real pain in the neck!

author: eelliott
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2014, 01:13:42 am
content: Quote from: stuartk on February 24, 2014, 09:03:54 pmRe UltraPower and the DP832, I was able to get UltraPower to appear as a right-click option for the DP832 and UltraPower will begin execution but quickly pops "Initialize Error!". This error occurs because UltraPower cannot handle the format of the DP832's response to the APPL? command. This is probably indicative of potentially other command formatting and response formatting issues.I thought I would mention this so no one else wastes their time trying to find a workaround.It's a moot point but the way I got UltraPower to execute for the DP832 was to add a line ("DP800 = DP832") to the Ultra Power.ini file and then to create a DP832.ini file similar to the .ini files which already exist for the two DP units which are supported.

author: alex.forencich
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2014, 07:36:21 am
content: Quote from: stuartk on February 26, 2014, 02:30:37 amTake a look at my Python IVI library. I have some preliminary support for the unit in the abstraction layer, but you can always send it commands directly. I don't have access to a Rigol supply to debug the rigol interface, right now it just uses the default SCPI commands that work with Tektronix and Agilent power supplies - some commands may need to be adjusted for the Rigol unit to operate correctly. The python libraries will run on windows, linux, and osx. There are associated driver libraries (python-vxi11 and python-usbtmc) for cross-platform USB instrument support (no Windows drivers required! Well, you may need to make an INI file, but this is not terribly difficult) and cross-platform Ethernet instrument support. It can also use pyusb for serial communication and pyvisa for everything NI VISA supports. The LAN interface is my favorite; all you need to do is install python, python-ivi, and python-vxi11 and then you can connect to your instrument directly from the python interpreter and send it commands, no configuration required. And you can connect the instrument to your standard home networ so you don't need to deal with a bunch of extra cables going to your computer.From looking at the programming guide, there are a couple of interesting commands you might want to try. There are measure commands that will read out the voltage, current, and power values for each channel. You could easily call those in a loop to log data and then save it to a csv file, for example. There is also a nice setup for the timer configuration that should be very easy to script. Not sure about the internal recorder, though. There are commands to set it up to record and to load and store files. Looks like analyzer:result? will give you the statistics (median, mean, mode, range, variance).I'm not sure if they have a command to read all of the recorded values, though.Edit: looks like there is no way to transfer a whole data file in one go, but you can load it up in the analyzer and then call analyzer:value? to read out the values one at a time. Doesn't look like there is a good way to see how many points are available, though. Or to see what the time step is. I would suggest testing out these commands to see how they work as the documentation is rather lacking.