Model 6517B Electrometer User's Manual
Section 2: Getting started
6517B-900-01 Rev. B August 2022
2-7
Power-up sequence
When the 6517B is powered up, it performs the following tests:
•
Self-tests on its EEPROM and RAM
•
Checksum tests on data stored in nonvolatile memory
If a failure is detected, the instrument momentarily displays an error message and the
ERR
annunciator turns on.
If the instrument passes the tests, the firmware revision levels and the communications status are
briefly displayed. An example of this display is shown as follows:
Model 6517B
Rev. A01 700x SCPI: 27
The firmware revision levels (left to right) are for the main microcontroller and display microcontroller.
In the example above,
SCPI
indicates that the SCPI language is selected and
27
is the IEEE-488
address. If the RS-232 interface is selected, the message
RS-232 MODE
is displayed instead of the
IEEE-488 address.
If the instrument is configured to display the calibration due date when it is turned on, the calibration
due date is displayed. The format is
mm/dd/yy
, where
mmm
is the month abbreviation,
dd
is the day,
and
yy
is the year. If no calibration date is set, the display shows that it is due now.
After the power-up sequence, the instrument opens to the main display with
ZeroCheck
displayed.
To achieve rate accuracies, allow the instrument to warm up for at least one hour before use.
Power-up error messages
The 6517B performs the following checksum tests on power-up.
Data
Type of storage
IEEE-488 address
Electrically-erasable PROM
Power-up default
Electrically-erasable PROM
Calibration constants
Electrically-erasable PROM
Calibration dates
Electrically-erasable PROM
Instrument setups
Ten in electrically-erasable PROM
Reading buffer
Nonvolatile RAM
