Specifications

Communication

4 Communication

4.1 Interfaces Available

The E-517 can be controlled from a host computer (not included) with ASCII

commands sent via:

■ TCP/IP

■ RS-232 serial connection

■ USB connection (FTDI; USB 1.1, compatible with USB 2.0)

■ GPIB (IEEE 488) connection

All interfaces can be active simultaneously. The commands from the

interfaces are queued in the order the completed command lines are

received.

NOTES

TCP/IP communication: If no DHCP server is available on the network

or if a point-to-point connection between host PC and controller is

being used, after power-on or reboot it might take a period of about 30

seconds before communication is possible.

It is not possible to connect multiple TCP/IP command streams to the

E-517 via TCP/IP—only one TCP/IP connection is possible at any one

time.

When using the USB interface for the first time, two FTDI USB drivers

must be installed on the host PC. These drivers are provided on the

E-517 CD in the \USB_Serial_Driver directory.

With TCP/IP and USB connections, communication can not be

maintained after the E-517 is power-cycled or rebooted. The

connection must then be closed and reopened.

The IEEE 488 tab card is only present in the host software if a GPIB

driver from National Instruments (NI) or an NI-compatible driver is

installed on your PC.

Using multiple interfaces simultaneously may cause problems with the

host software.

With PIMikroMove™, it is possible to connect to multiple controllers in

one program instance. With PITerminal, you need a new program

instance for each E-517 you want to connect to.