GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
Table of Contents                                                          Pages
1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 2
2. COMPUTER’S CONNECTION............................................................................................. 6
3. REMOTE CONTROL'S COMMANDS ................................................................................ 12
4. DETAILS OF COMMAND REFERENCE ........................................................................... 19
5. STATUS REPORTS............................................................................................................ 73
6. PROGRAM TEMPLATE FOR GPIB................................................................................... 81
7.  APPENDIX  A:  HOW  CAN  WE  CONVERT  THE  HEXADECIMAL  FORMAT  TO  A
FLOATING POINT FORMAT. ................................................................................................ 89
Due to continuous improvements in the GDS-806/810/820/840 Digital Storage
Oscilloscope,  information  contained  in  this  manual  is  subject  to  change
without notice. Contact GOOD WILL, for revisions and corrections.
GOOD WILL Instrument Co., LTD.
No.7-1, Jhongsing Rd., Tucheng City,
Taipei County 236, Taiwan
Telephone – 886-2-22680389          Fax – 886-2-22680639
E-mail - marketing@goodwill.com.tw
http://www.goodwill.com.tw
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GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
1. Introduction
Users  can  drive  this  digital  storage  oscilloscope  by  using  the  GPIB  (General
Purpose  Interface  Bus)  system  with  a  computer,  or  from  a  computer  across  the
RS-232 serial connection. Commands sent over either interface can read or set any
oscilloscope’s  instructions.  This  chapter  explains  how  to  carry  out  the  following
tasks.
Notes for GPIB installation
If  you  are  setting  up  the  oscilloscope  with  a  GPIB  system,  please  check  the
following regulations:
  Only a maximum of 15 devices can be connected to a single GPIB bus.
  Do not use more than 20 m of cable to connect devices to a bus.
  Connect one device for every 2 m of cable used.
  Each device on the bus needs a unique device address. No two devices can
share the same device address.
  Turn on at least two-thirds of the devices on the GPIB system while you use the
system.
  Do not use loop or parallel structure for the topology of GPIB system.
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GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
Notes for RS-232 Configuration
This  oscilloscope  contains  a  DB  9-pin,  male  RS-232  connector  for  serial
communication  with  a  computer  or  terminal.  The  RS-232  interface  of  this
oscilloscope is configured as an RS-232 “Data Terminal Equipment”, so that data
is sent from pin 3 and received on pin 2. For remote controls, the RS-232 interface
has to be connected with a computer or terminal.
Pin Assignments
The pin assignments for RS-232 interface of the oscilloscope are listed below.
1.  No connection
2.  Receive Data(RxD)
3.  Transmit Data(TxD)
4.  No connection
5.  Signal Ground
6.  No connection
7.  No connection
8.  No connection
9.  No connection
(input)
(output)
(GND)
Figure 1-1: Pin assignments for the RS232 connector
DB9 to DB9 Wiring
The wiring configuration is used for computer with DB9 connectors that configured
as Data Terminal Equipment.
Oscilloscope
(DB9, DTE)
Computer
(DB9, DTE)
Pin2
Pin3
Pin5
Pin2
Pin3
Pin5
Figure 1-2: DB9 to DB9 wiring
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GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
When the oscilloscope is set up with a RS-232 interface, please check the following
points:
  Do not connect the output line of one DTE device to the output line of the
other.
  Many devices require a constant high signal on one or more input pins.
  Ensure that the signal ground of the equipment is connected to the signal
ground of the external device.
  Ensure  that  the  chassis  ground  of  the  equipment  is  connected  to  the
chassis ground of the external device.
  Do not use more than 15m of cable to connect devices to a PC.
  Ensure the same configurations are used on the device as the one used
on PC terminal.
  Ensure  the  connector  for  the  both  side  of  cable  and  the  internal
connected line are met the demand of the instrument.
Computer’s Connection for RS-232
A personal computer with a COM port is the essential facilities in order to operate
the digitizing oscilloscope via RS-232 interface.
The connections between oscilloscope and computer are as follows:
I. 
II. 
Connect one end of a RS-232 cable to the computer.
Connect the other end of the cable to the RS-232 port on the oscilloscope.
III. 
Turn on the oscilloscope.
IV. 
Turn on the computer.
Figure 1-3, shows the GPIB port and RS-232 port’s locations on the rear panel of
the oscilloscope.
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GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
Figure 1-3. Rear panel of the oscilloscope
(1):  Main power switch
(2):  AC power socket
(3):  GPIB port (option for all series oscilloscopes)
(4):  Fuse drawer
(5):  “SELF CAL” BNC output
(6):  “GO/NO GO” BNC output (option for GDS-806/810)
(7):  USB connector (option for GDS-806/810)
(8):  Printer port (option for GDS-806/810)
(9):  RS-232 port
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GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
2. Computer’s Connection
A personal computer with a GPIB card is the essential stuff in order to operate the
oscilloscope via GPIB interface.
The connections between oscilloscope and computer are following:
I.  Connect one end of a GPIB cable to the computer.
II.  Connect the other end of the GPIB cable to the GPIB port on the Oscilloscope.
III.  Turn on the oscilloscope.
IV.  Turn on the computer.
The GPIB interface capabilities:
The GPIB interface of the oscilloscope corresponds to the standard of IEEE488.1-
1987, IEEE488.2-1992 and SCPI-1994. The GPIB interface functions are listed as
follows:
SH1 (Source
Handshake):
AH1 (Acceptor
Handshake):
T6 (Talker):
L4 (Listener):
The  oscilloscope  can  transmit  multilane  messages
across the GPIB.
The  oscilloscope  can  receive  multilane  messages
across the GPIB.
Talker  interface  function  includes  basic  talker,  serial
poll,  and  un-address  if  MLA  capabilities,  without  talk
only mode function.
listener  when 
the
The  oscilloscope  becomes  a 
controller  sends  its  listen  address  with  the  ATN
(attention)  line  asserted.  The  oscilloscope  does  not
have listen only capability.
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GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
SR0 (Service Request): The  oscilloscope  has  no  SRQ  (Service  request)
function.
RL2 (Remote/Local):
PP0 (Parallel Poll):
DC1 (Device Clear):
DT0 (Device Trigger):
The  oscilloscope  will  ignore  the  LLO  (local  lockout)
command.
The  oscilloscope  has  no  Parallel  Poll 
function.
interface
The oscilloscope has Device clear capability to return
the device to power on status.
The  oscilloscope  has  no  Device  Trigger  interface
function.
C0 (Controller)    : This oscilloscope can not control other devices.
The GPIB address setting
To change the GPIB address, please use the following steps:
  Press  the  UTILITY  button  on  the  front  panel.  The  utility  menu  provides
Interface Menu sub menu by pressing F2 softkey which GPIB sub menu is
included. Press F1 softkey to select GPIB setting menu.
For GPIB sub menu
  Type GPIB: Select GPIB port.
  Addr 1~30: select the appropriate address for GPIB.
  Previous Menu: back to previous menu.
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GDS-806/810/820/840 Programming Manual
The GPIB connection testing
If you want to test the GPIB connection is whether working or not, use the National
Instrument’s  “Interactive  Control  utility”  for  instance,  you  communicate  with  the
GPIB devices through calls you interactively type in at the keyboard.
The  Interactive  Control  can  help  you  to  learn  about  the  instrument  and  to
troubleshoot problems by displaying the following information on your screen after
you enter a command:
  Results of the status word (ibsta) in hexadecimal notation
  Mnemonic constant of each bit set in ibsta
  Mnemonic value of the error variable (iberr) if an error exists (the ERR bit is
set in ibsta)
  Count value for each read, write, or command function
  Data received from your instrument
You can access online help in Interactive Control by entering help at the prompt, or
you can get help on a specific function by entering help  at the prompt,
where  is the name of the function for which you want help.
Interactive  Control  within  National 
To  start 
Automation Explorer”, complete the following steps:
Instrument’s  “Measurement  &
1. Select Tools→I-488.2 Utilities→Interactive Control.
2. Open either a board handle or device handle to use for further NI-488.2 calls.
Use ibdev to open a device handle, ibfind to open a board handle, or the set
488.2 command to switch to a 488.2 prompt.
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