(71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Printable Version +- HP Forums (https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum) +-- Forum: HP Software Libraries (/forum-10.html) +--- Forum: General Software Library (/forum-13.html) +--- Thread: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration (/thread-7510.html) |
(71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Erwin - 01-03-2017 10:45 PM Hi, Now I started to work with the DAQ-Unit I planned 2 years ago. I own a HP 3421A Data Acquisition Unit and want to use it for a temperature measuring project in the future. Now with the FRAM71B I have the possibility to have all my necessary programs on board of the HP71B. Before using the HP 3421A it is necessary to calibrate the multiplexer boards. HP does not provide a calibration program for the HP71B (only in a full automated setting with some additional instruments) and I'm wondering there is not something out in the wild. HP offers two possibilities for calibrating. One is the manual calibrating with the temperature calibration board. The effort for manual calibrating the multiplexer with the temperature calibrator board is relatively high. So I wrote a small basic program to overtake this manual part and carries out the calibration semi-automatically.
I did it fast and so it's not a code optimized program but it works for me and hopefully for others too. Maybe I'll do some code clearance later on. There is no additional comfortable error handling implemented. At the moment there is no calibration report - will be added in the future. I am happy about your feedback. best regards Erwin EDIT 2017-01-06 small code improvements, add check SQR error code, put program in LIF file Planning next steps:
Code: 10 ! HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Dave Frederickson - 01-05-2017 07:40 PM Hi Erwin, Coincidentally, I was thinking of writing a calibration routine for the 3421A using the 71B. Unfortunately I don't have access to the necessary standards. I'll give your program a try. I see that the Data Acquisition ROM is required. FRAM71 comes in handy in this regard. Dave RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Erwin - 01-05-2017 07:51 PM (01-05-2017 07:40 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote: Hi Erwin, Hi Dave, I did it like the HP papers said to do it in the manual way (if you don't have the paper I can make a copy and send it to you) - for me its running. The number of loops through the program depends on the hardware - I have two of them and one takes 25 times, the other 7 times. It's important that there is a constant temperature during the measurement and a "burn in time" of the 3421A minimum from 1 hour. I have no possibility to check the result with an external instrument (this have to Bussi Erwin the next step) so I can't say the program is doing it right. But the figures showed it (but never trust only figures). In the meanwhile I changed the waiting time from 10 to 15 seconds to be on the save side - its only necessary after writing the reference but I did it after the read cycle too. I don't have the test-extension for the digital-board so I wasn't able to include this test. I'm happy about your feedback and to sharpen the program Erwin RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Dave Frederickson - 01-05-2017 09:09 PM Hi Erwin, Be aware that the manual temperature calibration procedure uses the internal voltmeter of the 3421A. For the temperature calibration to be accurate, the DC volts needs to calibrated first. Edit: The temperature calibration procedure makes resistance measurements which is part of the voltmeter calibration, so resistance needs to be calibrated also, after DC volts. Edit #2: Before diving into what is now becoming a much bigger task, are your batteries good? The CAL Data battery can be replaced with a Panasonic BR-2/3AE5SPN, Digi-Key P226-ND. The 6V 3.2Ah SLA battery can be replaced with a Powersonic PS-632. There's a nice procedure for replacing the CAL battery here: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/owon-100mhz-sds7102v-repair/?prev_next=prev#new Note: This is exactly the same battery as the one in the 3468 DMM. Dave RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Erwin - 01-05-2017 10:13 PM (01-05-2017 09:09 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote: Hi Erwin, Hi Dave, yes I know this - but this is the more complicated part, cause it needs a multi-scale voltage reference (to check all the DC ranges), a 6 (5) digit multimeter. Also AC calibration should be done - with different frequencies. High precision resistor test and this should be done before temperature calibration. Then each calibration data is set in the calibration RAM. There exist a tape for the HP85 I think it should be a BASIC program. But I could not get hands on one of this - could be easy to transfer the program to the HP71B and perform most of the tests. Maybe some have a source for this? regards Erwin RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Dave Frederickson - 01-06-2017 12:31 AM Hi Erwin, I inquired about the calibration program about 3 weeks ago with hpseries80@groups.io. https://groups.io/g/hpseries80/message/1499?p=Created,,,20,1,0,0::recentpostdate%2Fsticky,,,20,2,40,3784341 I also asked Larry Atherton who repairs Series 80 computers and calibrates some HP equipment. No luck. Dave RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Dave Frederickson - 03-31-2017 02:12 AM Hi Erwin, The B parameter in line 170 should be 0.0002360998857. Regards, Dave RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Erwin - 03-31-2017 09:19 PM (03-31-2017 02:12 AM)Dave Frederickson Wrote: Hi Erwin, Hi Dave, thanks I'm on a project outside my home so I'm not able to finish my work on the calibration program for a longer time. Thanks for the hint to the faulty numbers. I did a rewrite of the program - but still not finished - with additional measurement tasks. The performance verification is ready but not tested also the counter check. Not ready is the calibration for DC, AC and Ohms ... I did this all without my HP 4321A. The program at the moment consists of the two parts: performance and calibration of the main unit and performance and calibration of the MUX board. If it would help I can PM you the actual version of the program. Maybe we could finish the program as a 'combination' project if you want. best regards Erwin RE: (71B) HP 3421A DATA AQUISTION/CONTROL UNIT calibration - Dave Frederickson - 04-01-2017 12:18 AM Hi Erwin, I'd be happy to take a look at your program, but I'm not up to collaborating on a project. I don't have the calibration standards necessary to validate a performance verification or calibration program. Right now I'd just be happy if I could clear the CAL RAM errors on my 3421 and 3468. If I could just figure out how the undocumented CAL command works. http://hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-8061.html Regards, Dave |