Stanford Research Systems DG535

Table of contents

Description

The SRS DG535 is a 4-channel digital delay generator. The delaygen module provides devGpib device support for this instrument, using DTYP "dg535". Communication is GPIB only.

Communication

The DG535 requires a GPIB interface. There are two options depending on the platform.

vxWorks (VME with SBS/GreenSpring IP488)

Use the gsIP488Configure command from the ipac module:

gsIP488Configure("L1", 0, 1, 0x69, 0, 0)
Parameter Type Description
portName string Asyn port name. Must be L followed by a number.
carrier int Industry Pack carrier number (from 0).
module int Module number on the carrier (from 0).
intVec int Interrupt vector.
priority int Port thread priority. 0 for default.
noAutoConnect int 0 for auto-connect, non-zero for explicit connect.

Linux (NI GPIB-RS232 converter)

Use the nigpibInterposeConfig command provided by this module. This creates an asyn interpose layer on an existing serial port that handles the NI GPIB-RS232 converter protocol.

First configure the serial port to the converter, then apply the interpose:

drvAsynSerialPortConfigure("L1", "/dev/ttyS0", 0, 0, 0)
nigpibInterposeConfig("L1", 23, 60, 0)

nigpibInterposeConfig(ioport, addr, bsiz, timeout)
Parameter Type Description
ioport string Asyn port name for the serial port. Must be L followed by a number.
addr int GPIB device address of the DG535.
bsiz int NI GPIB-RS232 read buffer size in bytes.
timeout int Communication timeout in seconds. 0 for default (3s).

The devGpib device support for the DG535 requires the asyn port name to follow the convention L followed by a number (e.g., L1, L2).

Database

There are two database variants for the DG535. Both use the same devGpib device support code.

devDG535.db (original)

The original database by Ned Arnold (ANL Controls).

Macro Description
P PV name prefix
R PV name infix
L GPIB link number (the number after L in the port name)
A GPIB address of the instrument 
dbLoadRecords("$(DELAYGEN)/db/devDG535.db", "P=delaygen:,R=DG2:,L=1,A=15")

devDG535daa.db (alternate)

A modified version by Dohn Arms intended to be friendlier for beamline staff. Adds delay tweak controls with selectable units (s/ms/us/ns/ps) and configuration slot recall/store. Uses the same macros as the original.

dbLoadRecords("$(DELAYGEN)/db/devDG535daa.db", "P=delaygen:,R=DG2:,L=1,A=15")

Features

The DG535 database provides control over:

  • Delay channels A-D – Delay value and reference source for each channel.
  • Outputs T0, AB, CD – Amplitude, offset, polarity, termination, and mode for each output.
  • Trigger – Mode (internal/external/single shot/burst/line), rate, level, burst count, and period.
  • Status – Instrument status and error readback.

The devDG535daa.db variant additionally provides:

  • Delay tweaks – Increment/decrement delay by a configurable step with selectable units.
  • Configuration slots – Save and recall instrument configurations.