Logging data from 53131A - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 12:35:54 am
content: I'd like to use my 53131A to log the drift of some oscillators over a few days so I can graph it. The counter has a serial port which I believe is only for a printer and GPIB and I have a USB to GPIB adapter so either one is an option. I went looking for a way to set up logging and was surprised to not find a simple ready to use solution for what seems like it would be a very common use case.So what are others using? I don't need anything fancy, just something to read the frequency and dump into a text file at the gating interval, I can import it into a spreadsheet and work with it from there. There are a couple of 53131 scripts that come with EZ-GPIB but I was not successful in getting either one to work. It may be something simple though, I am not real familiar with that software but I was hoping there is a way to just get the counter to start spitting out measurements.

author: kilobyte
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 07:04:03 pm
content: I use the RS232 Port for data logging on my 53131/132. The RS232 is only a "talk only" Interface and it can be enabled with the Save&Print button.After each measurement a single text line will be send out that can be logged with a serial terminal like Putty or any other program like TimeLabs.The old 3317 Firmware on my 53131 will print it sometimes in different ways with/without decimal limiter or Hz instead of MHzHere are some examples of the RS232 output:9.999,999,999,8 MHz10.000,000,000,0 MHz9.999,999,999,9 MHz9.9999999681 MHz9.9999999678 MHz9.9999999676 MHz9,999,999.812,0 Hz9,999,999.811,4 Hz9,999,999.811,3 Hz

author: MikeLud
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 07:17:11 pm
content: james_s,You might be able to use the program in the below link. You will need to make a device file with the proper SCPI commands for the 53131A and use the USB to GPIB adapterhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/program-that-can-log-from-many-multimeters/

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 10:09:52 pm
content: My first choice would be Timelab. If you're looking at Allan Deviation or aging, it's a one-stop shop to gather the data and graph it. My second choice would be EZ-GPIB since you can write what you want. If Pascal, which EZ-GPIB is based on, isn't to your liking, you could try something like Python with PyVisa. I know that older, pre-SCPI devices can be extra cranky to get working. I don't know if the 53131A is in that category.Regardless of how you gather the data, you can import it into Timelab or Stable32 for graphing.Ed

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 11:44:26 pm
content: Cool, I'll check out Timelab, that sounds like it might be the way to go for this particular application. I'll also try the serial port, I played around with GPIB and was able to poll the counter and get a reading but I didn't find a way to get it to just keep spitting it out before I had to clean up and head to bed.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2020, 03:51:47 am
content: So I tried TimeLab but so far I haven't been able to get it to work. I'm using a AR488 GPIB adapter (Prologix compatible) which works perfectly with the 7470A plotter emulator and the serial port shows up in TimeLab but when I try to connect it says "Acquisition Failed: Port unavailable or in use (Communications error)Is there something obvious I'm likely overlooking? If I fire up a terminal emulator I can connect without trouble and talk to the counter. I have the instrument address entered in TimeLab, not sure what else to check.

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2020, 09:09:28 pm
content: I'm not familiar with that GPIB adapter, but the error message almost sounds like there's a problem on the computer side of the connection. Maybe try using a standard USB/serial adapter and connect to the serial port on the 53131A.Ed

author: artag
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2020, 02:53:32 pm
content: I've had this working in continuous mode with an AR488. The thing to do is set the AR488 to listen-only mode and the 53131A to talk-only. However, the results should be the same as with RS232.

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2020, 10:11:03 pm
content: "Ports unavailable to use" is an indication of some other program accessing the same port. I have that same Prologic adapter. When I plug it in, it shows up as an emulated serial port (com: whatever). Make sure, you don't have terminal program running on it.If I try to use terminal to make sure it's working, minimize and forget it, and fire up timelab, it will happen every time!

author: nealix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2022, 04:06:58 pm
content: Sorry to awaken an old thread. I am just getting started, and also wish to use my 53131A with timelab.My counter came with the Agilent 82357 USB GPIB adapter, which I see is not supported by timelab.But, I can obviously use the talk-only RS-232 method.My question as a newbie is this:How do I learn to measure the drift of an oscillator?My reading so far indicates that we want to feed timelab a series of time-intervalmeasurements (to log and chart ADEV.) Let's keep it simple for the first step.If I have a crystal oscillator on a bread board, and also have a more accuratesource, such as a GPSDO, what hooks to what? What time interval am I measuring?And since when using the RS-232 as a talk-only interface, clearly the PC and TimeLabcan't control the counter. Do you guys just set up a time-interval measurementusing the counter front panel, and then tell it to repeat each second, or someother sample rate?Again, just getting started, so need to be spun around and pointed in the rightgeneral direction. :-)Cheers,Neal

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2022, 06:52:36 am
content: If I am casually measuring rather drifty oscillator, I'll do something like1) setting the counter to 10 second gate time (53131 and 53132 will give most digits in this setup)2) connect external clock reference to something known to be far more stable than device under test3) connect a terminal software to RS232C port and log for 24 hours4) import it into excel and take a lookPlease note, GPSDO has a very good stability LONG TERM, but for short term, it will drift quite a bit. In fact, some of us will turn off steering by GPS while measurement is taking place.What kind of reference do you have?What are you measuring?Yes, I set counter via front panel. TimeLab won't do it for you even if you use GPIB.

author: nealix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2022, 03:58:28 pm
content: Thanks for the reply.First, I am not ("yet") a serious time nut. I am only just starting to play.What I wish to do is sort through some old different brand OCXO's that I bought on ebay, andlearn which ones settle in to a better stability. I also just wish to learn about measuringADEV using the time interval measuring and plotting process.Then, I will take the better OCXO that I sort, and use it build another GPSDO (using STM32)simply for educational purposes and to learn more about how they work.My existing reference is a GPSDO built by BG7TBL in China. It is an older recycled UCCM type,probably symetricom, based on it's RS-232 interface command menu.So again, I am not looking for ultimate accuracy, I am simply trying to learn more and explore.Someone said on another old thread that the 1PPS from the reference GPSDO should go intoone of the time interval counter ports, and that the 10MHZ from the OCXO should go intothe other time interval counter port. Does the DUT go into port 2 as a STOP signal, andthe REF 1PPS go into port 1 as a START signal?Also, if both ports need 1PPS, I can hook in a Pic DIV chip to knock it down to 1PPS if thatis required.Once the counter is set into time interval mode, does it simply repeat measurements over andover, and stream those out the RS-232 port? I assume this would be accomplished using theRUN button on the counter? Or, if not, do I need to feed a repeating pulse stream to thecounter's rear panel ARM jack?For the TimeLab software side on the PC, if the TimeLab ACQUIRE menu is set to the right COMport, I assume it will drink this data stream and log it to a file?Thanks again for any mentoring and guidance. This stuff does seem interesting and fun.Neal

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2022, 04:21:21 pm
content: Quote from: nealix on March 31, 2022, 03:58:28 pm

author: nealix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2022, 07:22:20 pm
content: :-) Thanks. But I am less pessimistic. Let me explain, and feel free to correct my thinking;+ This is for hobby level, so I am really interested in "relative" goodness, not military spec accurate numbers.+ True, since my reference is a china unit, built with surplus parts, I have no way of knowing how well it worksor if it is more accurate than a simple TCXO or OCXO stand-alone oscillator component.+ While the proper way for someone interested in calibration or accurate measurements would be to test theirpurchased GPSDO against a primary calibration standard like a cal-lab cessium clock, I am not going there. :-)Not rich, and not that deep a time nut yet.But for hobby needs, I would argue that relative measurments can still point toward unit A or unit B belingsome unknown amount of goodness better than the other one.That said, I think there is still some educational and hobby value here;1. I use the "unknown" GPSDO reference, and test against the random OCXO parts I purchased. If the GPSDO ref isworking more accurately than the OCXO test parts (DUT), than I get a releative idea of which OCXO is better.NOT arealADEV number, but a relative "meanignless index of performance" on which oscillator part seems better.2. If none of the OCXO parts show any difference, then that might indicate that the reference GPSDO is the weaklink, not working properly, and I am only seeing it's noise floor or instability of the reference, and nothing else.Both of those are educational to a newbie like me, and perhaps even fun from a hobby perspective.Do I have this wrong?I agree with you, a local mentor to spend lunch with would be nice, but no other time nuts exist at my work placeor in my home neighborhood. So I have joined the time-nuts mailing list, and also post here, in an effortto start learning. I also found websites like;http://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=timinghttp://leapsecond.com/time-nuts.htmhttp://www.thegleam.com/ke5fx/I understand that you many be very busy, so please do not feel obligated in any way to be that mentor.But over time, perhaps some others will point to good articles and provide tips and hints either here,or on the time nuts mailing list, and of course, endless reading of the above links. :-)Cheers,Neal

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2022, 07:30:03 pm
content: Yes, that's how it always starts... just a hobby... Next thing you know, you have a dedicated lab and full of time standards. Don't ask me how I know this.The URLs you listed are very good sources of information; perhaps, some of the best on Internet. I made John Miles low noise amplifier, for example.Once you get started, it'll probably make more sense how this "relative" thing doesn't work so well. But it is educational indeed.Have fun with this.