Hi. I'm connecting a laser (Spectra-Physics MaiTai HP, manual attached) to a Windows 10 PC by LabView. First of all, I have and am connecting the instrument to the PC by a provided UI, successfully using RS-232 connection. Second, the goal of this question is to figure out how I could connect to the laser, give commands and queries using LabView to integrate the laser with the rest of my system. Finally, please see Chapter 6-10 of the manual for RS-232 guidelines.
Here's the question:
I tried connecting to the instrument by NI-MAX by selecting the proper COM port. I configured the port to whatever the manual listed (9600 baud rate, XON/XOFF enabled, 1 stop bit, no parity, and 8 data bits). Then I open the VISA test panel.
I was able to write, but not read or query the instrument using the command *IDN?\n nor READ:HUM?\n. The error was a simple timeout.
I troubleshooted by doing a loopback test (connecting pin 2 and 3 then querying --> success --> not a cable problem). Well, I use the same cable and was able to connect using the UI anyway.
I thought the problem was some kind of termination character, so I selected the enable Terminal Character option. My instrument will recognize LF or CR or both, but I chose LF just to choose one. The timeout error is still there.
I tried connecting by Putty. But I wasn't able to open a connection even.
Please advise me on what else to try.
Thank you.