HP3488 Switch/Control Unit driver for Python-IVI

A simple but functional driver for interacting with the HP 3488A and 3499A Switch/Control Unit

The HP 3488A is a modern styled (pre Agilent) rack for various switch modules often used for routing signals between devices for product development or test.

This driver is composed of a driver for each plugin and the 3488A rack itself. The following plugins are functional:

• 44470A Ten Channel Differential Mux
• 44472A Dual Four Channel VHF Mux
• 44473A 4 X 4 Matrix Switch

No work has been done on the 3488A driver itself which would conceivably implement some sort of smart routing between plugins. Very much a work in progress.

• developed and tested with Python3.8

• python-ivi https://github.com/python-ivi/python-ivi
• python-vxi11 https://github.com/python-ivi/python-vxi11

The typical (and perhaps easiest) way to install found ivi drivers is to comingle them In-Tree with IVI's supplied drivers

• copy the drivers to the python-ivi/ivi/agilent folder.
• edit the agilent/init.py file to allow python to find your new drivers.
• rebuild and reinstall python-ivi.
• fiddle with the example code.

If you prefer to keep them more separate, this method works well:

• see this gist

• developed for an HP3488A with an E2050A GPIB/ethernet bridge
• if any of the agilent3488 driver files are modified, python-ivi will need to be rebuilt and reinstalled
• routing is incredibly simplistic
• with my older instruments, i had to define instr.term_char = '\n'. I found this caused a conversion error during pack_int() of the python-vxi11 library. If you have the same problem, notes on how i worked around it are here

This has been a fun trip and I appreciate the work the Python-IVI developers have invested.