USB, Analog, Ethernet

All series come with a USB interface for programming and remote control. USB allows both ModBus and SCPI protocols, as well a general purpose control by the Windows application software, and LabView VI driver.

The 300, 310, and 311 Series also include an analog interface. The analog interface includes 14 control and monitoring signals. Remote control can be enabled/disabled, dc output can be switched on/off, voltage, current, and power settings can be adjusted, actual voltage and current are monitored, and several are alarms are indicated.

Shown below is a 300 Series 1U rear panel which includes Ethernet as standard (as does the 311). Ethernet is available on 310 Series through an AnyBus module.

AnyBus Modules

The 310 Series has the choice of including either the AnyBus port, or a GPIB port. Shown below are the layouts of the 2U and 3U units with the AnyBus port (with the blanking cover plate on). The 311 Series features the AnyBus as standard.

AnyBus offers multiple field-replaceable modules with connectivity and protocol support for RS-232, Ethernet, ModBus TCP, EtherCAT, CAN, OpenCAN, Profibus, and ProfiNET.

GPIB Interface

The 310 Series can include an optional GPIB port (which replaces the AnyBus port). Shown below are the layouts of the 2U and 3U units with the GPIB port. With GPIB installed, there is not a way to include Ethernet.

With GPIB, remote scripting is done with the SCPI command protocol—it does not support ModBus.

GPIB is not available on the 300, 311, or 320 Series.

Sense Bus

All models include the Sense bus. The (+) and (-) terminals of this bus are connected to the DC input of the device under test. During constant voltage operation (CV), the adjusted output voltage will be held constant at the load, and not at the power supply’s DC output.

Share Bus

All models include the Share bus. The Share Bus is used to balance a load across parallel units. With the bus connected (daisy chained across all parallel units), internal voltage is regulated, and thus the current as well, which results in a balanced load distribution.

Master-slave Bus

Allmodels except the 300 Series include the master-slave bus. This bus improves the operation of parallel units by allowing the master to communicate with the slave units in much greater detail than achieved with the share bus. (There is no termination switch on the 311.)

Lockout

All models include the ability to lock the user interface from accidental changes. The lock status is shown on the control panel as seen below (300 Series top, 310 Series bottom). In the 300 Series, the lock is activated with a brief navigation to a menu item. With the 310 and 311 Series touch panel, it’s even easier—tap the lock icon in the status panel. Unlocking can require a PIN, or can simply require the acknowledgement of an “are you sure” prompt.

Rotary Controls

All models include rotary controls as part of the user control panel. These are used for changing the voltage, current, and power set values, and other numeric values when shown on the display. When in normal operating mode (not viewing menu options), the knob is pushed in like a button, and this cycles through the numeric places (tenths, ones, tens, etc.). Then the dial is rotated to assign the numeric value (0-9). Each knob is assigned a default parameter to adjust (some user assignment is possible) making quick changes for a series of tests easy and quick.

Profiles

A profile is a collection of all settings and set values. When the system settings and/or set values (voltage, current, power) are adjusted, these changes create a working profile which can be saved to one of the five user profiles. A default profile also exists, which cannot be changed, but can be selected.

The purpose of a profile is to store and recall a collection of set values, settings limits, and monitoring thresholds quickly without having to readjust these manually. This makes it much faster to change among a set of test parameters which are being used repeatedly.