MCS260B
CORNERSTONE 260B MONOCHROMATORS
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APPENDIX I: REMOTE COMMANDS AND QUERIES
15.1 OPENING RS-232 COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
The
CS260B’s USB port implements the USB Test and Measurement class (USBTMC), making it
directly compatible with National Instruments’ LabVIEW programming system. It provides a robust
way to send messages to the CS260B. However, RS-232 continues to be an extremely simple
communications bus, once it is configured correctly.
Commands and Queries may be sent to the CS260B’s RS-232 port using HyperTerminal, PuTTY,
YAT, Newport’s MonoTerm, or other similar terminal-emulation programs. Connect a standard 9-
pin PC serial port to the CS260B using a straight-through (not null modem) cable. Once the
terminal program is open and running, select the connected COM port and configure it according
to the following settings (Table 1):
Baud Rate:
9600
Data Bits:
8
Parity:
None
Stop Bits:
1
Flow Control:
None
Table 1: COM port settings.
The CS260B requires all Statements to be terminated by a carriage return followed by a linefeed.
Configure the terminal emulator to send a carriage return and line feed (CR-LF) as its terminator
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All responses from the CS260B end with a carriage return followed by a linefeed.
When shipped from the factory, the CS260B echoes each RS-232 character as it receives it. This
feature can be turned off or on using the “Echo” command (see the Command Reference). The
echo can be handy when troubleshooting a serial connection, but it may be troublesome when
developing a test program.
Note: all the RS-232, USB, and Hand Controller ports are active at all times. There are times when
this can be useful but it’s important to recognize the possibility that commands received on one
port could override those from another.
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Some terminal emulators call the terminator the “EOL (end of line) sequence”.
