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RS-232 / RS-485 Output and Input
Alicat mass flow and pressure units come standard with Alicat’s integrated
multi-drop RS-232 connectivity; although, RS-485 can be substituted.
Alicat’s Flow Vision Software
Flow Vision is an affordable software program that interfaces with RS-232 or
RS-485 and is compatible with most Alicat flow and pressure instruments. The
graphical user interface (GUI) provides automatic configuration, session saving
for easy configuration and experiment setup reloads, data capturing and logging
(including a graphing tool), simple script building for automating meter and
control command sequences, software alarms, and support for multiple devices.
Flow Vision SC™ is for general use with up to 26 different Alicat devices, while
Flow Vision MX™ is specifically designed for gas mixing applications.
Alicat’s Free Serial Terminal Application
Serial Terminal was written by Alicat as a preconfigured program for RS-232 or
RS-485 communication with Alicat devices and can be downloaded from
www.alicat.com/support/software-drivers.
Serial Terminal requires a Microsoft® .Net Framework to run properly which is
usually preinstalled on the PC. Once downloaded, simply run
SerialTerminal.exe and enter the COM port number and baud rate of your Alicat
device as prompted.
The COM port number may be determined using the Device Manager on the
computer, and the default baud rate of an Alicat device is 19200.
Additional Programs that are compatible with Alicat products
Alicat products are compatible with many serial communication type software
packages including PuTTy and LabVIEW. A brief set of instructions for each of
these programs is available at www.alicat.com/support/software-drivers.
Many other programs are also compatible with Alicat devices. To set up serial
communication it is important to note which COM port the Alicat is connected to
and the communication settings required.
The default communication settings are as follows: baud rate = 19200, data bits
= 8, stop bits = 1, parity = none, and flow control = none. Not all programs have
these options and care should be taken to determine the proper communication
setup with the desired program.
Alicat has written drivers specifically for LabVIEW which are available for
download at
alicat.com/support/software-drivers.
Sending a Command
In this section, a command will be denoted with a different font. For example,
command<CR>. <CR>
will be used to symbolize a carriage return. How a
carriage return is entered is dependent on the serial communication program
being used. With Serial Terminal, this can commonly be accomplished by
pressing “Enter” or “Return”.
