8924C 8903B

[w6kx@comcast.net]

Hello,

I have a few old HP test analyzers I wish to control programmatically via their HPIB-488 bus.  Of most interest are the 8903B and 8924C Audio and RF analyzers.

My needs will be rather simple to gather and graph data and construct automated sweep programs.

Can you advise on the suitability of LabVIEW 2014 Home Bundle for this purpose?  LabVIEW Base 2018/2019 is far too expensive for my personal use.

Thank you and regards,

Mike

[JColvin]

Hi @w6kx@comcast.net,

I"m not certain if it will work; I took a look LabVIEW drivers for both the 8903B and the 8924C and neither of them have a LabVIEW 2014 update; just the original LabVIEW 8.2.1 and LabVIEW 2015 (and onward) upgrades. It also appears that both of those instrument drivers are provided as is and are not supported by NI or a third party, so upgrading (or downgrading if that is feasible in LabVIEW) will likely be difficult.

In principle though, as long as the drivers did not require a specialized module (like the LabVIEW FPGA module), they should in theory work with LabVIEW 2014 Home Edition as it is the Full Development System for LabVIEW, but with a limited set of Modules. There are some more details on it's Reference page here: https://reference.digilentinc.com/reference/software/labview-home/start.

I'm sorry I could not be of more help.

Thanks,
JColvin