Copyright: Copyright (c) 2000 Agilent Technologies


What would you like to do?

   Connect to the network analyzer and verify communication

   Connect to a network analyzer on a remote host

   Capture the current network analyzer settings

   Restore previously stored settings to the network analyzer

   Edit the name of a saved state setting

   Remove saved state settings

   Export current network analyzer settings to a PC file

   Import network analyzer settings from a PC file

   Get data from the network analyzer

   Save S2P data to a file

   Create an Excel graph

   Start obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer

   Stop obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer

   Get an image of the network analyzer display

   Delete the network analyzer toolbar from Excel

   Restore network analyzer  toolbar to Excel

   Select the toolbar startup options

   Connect to the Agilent Web site

   Disconnect from the network analyzer

   View more help topics

   View troubleshooting information


 Connect to the network analyzer and verify communication

1.	Make sure that your network analyzer is physically connected to your computer and turned on.

2.	Click Connect to Network Analyzer on the network analyzer toolbar. You will see a list of addresses of instruments connected to your PC.

3.	Highlight the address from the Select Instrument Address list for the network analyzer that you want to connect to.

Note:

The instrument addresses listed are for instruments connected to the computer shown under the Select Instrument Address list. Look at the label above the Identify Instruments button. The name will be either "My Computer" or the name or IP address of a remote host. If you want to change the host computer, press the Advanced button and follow the instructions in Connect to a network analyzer on a remote host.

4.	Click Identify Instrument(s).

The instrument type, name, and address appear in the Identified Instruments list on the right. Instruments supported by the IntuiLink toolbar are in bold type.

Note: It could take up to two minutes for IntuiLink to identify the instruments on the selected address.

Tip: You can double-click on the instrument address and the instruments at that address will appear in the Identified Instruments list.

5.	In the Identified Instruments list, highlight the instrument that you want to connect to.

6.	Click Connect.

A green icon appears to the left of the instrument that is connected. The Connect button icon on the toolbar also turns green (after you close the dialog box) to indicate the instrument is connected.

Tip: You can double-click on the instrument to connect to it.

7.	Click Close to close the box. You will remain connected to the network analyzer.

If you do not know the address, you have two options:

•	You can select the address that you think may be correct and click the Identify Instrument(s) button to determine the type of instrument at that address.

OR

•	You can select more than one address (hold down the Shift key while clicking with the mouse or hold down the CTRL key while dragging the mouse) and click Identify Instrument(s). All the instruments at the selected addresses are listed, with the instruments supported by the toolbar in bold.

See the troubleshooting section of the online help if you still cannot connect to the instrument.

See Also

Disconnect from a network analyzer

Connect to a network analyzer on a remote host


To add the address of an instrument connected to a remote computer (Windows NT or Windows 2000 only):
 Connect to a network analyzer on a remote host
(Windows NT or Windows 2000 only)

This procedure assumes that you have already installed the IntuiLink software on the remote host and have a network analyzer connected to the remote computer via GP-IB or RS-232.

1.	Click Connect to Network Analyzer on the toolbar.

2.	In the Connect dialog box, click Advanced.

The Advanced dialog box appears.

3.	Enter the IP address or DNS hostname of the remote computer where the network analyzer is connected.

4.	Click Add. The hostname or IP address is now listed in the drop-down box under Select Instrument Address By Host:

5.	From the drop-down box, select the remote host that you want to connect to.

Note:

To list only those instruments connected to your computer, select My Computer from the drop-down list.

6.	Click Close.

In the Connect dialog box, the addresses for the remote host appear in the Select Instrument Address list, and the host name or IP address is displayed just above the Advanced button.

Note:

Windows 9x does not support remote instantiation of COM server processes. Visit Microsoft’s Web site and search for the Knowledge Base article #Q165101 for more detail.

See Also

Enabling the DCOM server interface in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000


Connect to Network Analyzer

In this dialog box, you specify the network analyzer to which you want to connect.

Prerequisite

Make sure that your network analyzer is physically connected to your computer and turned on.

Procedure

1.	Highlight the address from the Select Instrument Address list for the network analyzer that you want to connect to.

Note:

The instrument addresses listed are for instruments connected to the computer shown under the Select Instrument Address list. The name will be either "My Computer" or the name or IP address of a remote host. If you want to change the host computer, press the Advanced button and follow the instructions below under "To connect to an instrument on a remote computer".

2.	Click Identify Instrument(s).

The instrument type, name, and address appear in the Identified Instruments list on the right. Instruments supported by the software are in bold type.

Note: It could take up to two minutes for IntuiLink to identify the instruments on the selected address.

Tip: You can double-click on the instrument address and the instruments at that address will appear in the Identified Instruments list.

3.	In the Identified Instruments list, highlight the instrument that you want to connect to.

4.	Click Connect.

A green icon appears to the left of the instrument that is connected. The corresponding icon on the toolbar also turns green (after you close the dialog box)  to indicate the instrument is connected.

Tip: You can double-click on the instrument to connect to it.

5.	Click Close to close the box. You will remain connected to the network analyzer.

If you do not know the address of the network analyzer:

•	Select the address you think may be correct and click Identify Instrument(s) to determine the type of instrument at that address.

OR

•	Select more than one address (hold down the Shift key while clicking with the mouse or hold down the CTRL key while dragging the mouse) and click Identify Instrument(s). All the instruments at the selected addresses are listed, with the instruments supported by the toolbar in bold.

See the troubleshooting section of the online help if you still cannot connect to the instrument.

To disconnect from a network analyzer:

If you are currently connected to a network analyzer, the Disconnect button will be available. If you are not connected, the button is grayed out.

1.	Click Disconnect.

The current network analyzer connection is terminated.

To connect to an instrument on a remote computer (Windows NT or Windows 2000 only):

This procedure assumes that you have already installed the IntuiLink software on the remote computer and have a network analyzer connected to the remote computer via GP-IB or RS-232.

1.	Click Advanced.

The Advanced dialog box appears.

2.	Enter the IP address or DNS hostname of the remote computer.

3.	Click Add. The hostname or IP address is now listed in the drop-down box under Select Instrument Address By Host:

4.	From the drop-down box, select the remote host that you want to connect to.

Note:

To list only those instruments connected to your computer, select My Computer from the drop-down list.

5.	Click Close.

In the Connect dialog box, the addresses for the remote host appear in the Select Instrument Address list, and the host name or IP address is displayed just above the Advanced button.

Note:

Windows 9x does not support remote instantiation of COM server processes. Visit Microsoft’s Web site and search for the Knowledge Base article #Q165101 for more detail.

See Also

Enabling the DCOM server interface in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000


Disconnect from a network analyzer
 Disconnect from the network analyzer

On many computers, the COM port is alternately shared by several peripheral devices. The Disconnect feature allows you to terminate your current connection to a network analyzer without exiting the IntuiLink software, freeing up the COM port.

1.	Click Connect to Network Analyzer on the toolbar.

If you are currently connected to a network analyzer, the Disconnect button will be available. If you are not connected, the button is grayed out.

2.	Click the Disconnect button in the Connect dialog box..

The current network analyzer connection is terminated.

Note:

Connecting to a different network analyzer will disconnect you from the current instrument. You can be connected to only one instrument at a time.


 Get data from the network analyzer

1.	Click Get Data on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	Select the measurement channel from which you want to get data.

3.	Depending on the measurement channel that you selected, you may have the option of including real and imaginary data. Click the checkbox in the Show Data of Type field to include real and imaginary data.

4.	In the Labels list, select the desired annotations for the data.

5.	Click the Use Scientific Notation checkbox if you want to display data using scientific notation.

6.	Depending on the type of data and measurement channel you selected, you may have the option of placing the data in a simple Excel graph. Click the Make Simple Excel Graph checkbox if you want the data placed in a graph.

7.	In the Start Cell box, enter the starting cell where you want the information to be placed. If you leave this box blank, the default starting cell will be where your cursor was placed when you clicked the Get Data button on the toolbar.

8.	If you want to get repeated measurements of the data, click the Get Repeated Measurements checkbox. Then see Start obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer. If you do not want repeated measurements, make sure the Repeated Measurements checkbox is empty.

9.	Click Get Data when you are ready to obtain the data.

See Also

How data is plotted in Excel

Start obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer

Create an Excel graph


Obtain repeated measurements from the network analyzer
 Start obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer

1.	Click Get Data on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	Select the measurement channel from which you want to get data.

3.	Depending on the measurement channel that you selected, select the type of data in the Show Data of Type field: real and imaginary (for Smith charts) or log magnitude.

4.	In the Labels list, select the desired annotations for the data.

5.	Click the Use Scientific Notation checkbox if you want to display data using scientific notation.

6.	Depending on the type of data and measurement channel you selected, you may have the option of placing the data in a simple Excel graph. Click the Make Simple Excel Graph checkbox if you want the data placed in a graph.

7.	In the Start Cell box, enter the starting cell where you want the information to be placed. If you leave this box blank, the default starting cell will be where your cursor was placed when you clicked the Get Data button on the toolbar.

8.	Click the Get Repeated Measurements checkbox.

9.	Click the Repeated Measurements…. button.

The Repeated Measurements dialog box appears.

10.	In the Repeated Measurements dialog box, specify the time you want the measurements to start.

Click Immediately if you want the measurements to start right away.

Click At set time to specify a time to start. If you chose At set time, enter the date and time you want the measurements to start.

11.	Specify the time interval at which you want the data collected. For example, if you want to collect data every 1 ½  hours, enter 1 in the hours box, 30 in the minutes box, and leave the seconds box blank.

12.	To have the collection last for a specified length of time, click Duration and enter the hours, minutes, and seconds that you want data collected. When you choose Duration, you cannot set the number of measurements to be taken.

13.	Alternatively, to have the collection last for a specific number of measurements, click Number of measurements and enter the number of measurements that you want.

14.	Click OK when you are finished.

The Get Data dialog box now shows the conditions that you have set for collecting repeated measurements.

15.	Click Get Data to start the collection.

The status bar at the bottom on the page shows the status of the measurement collection. When all measurements have been collected, "Done" appears in the status bar.

Note:

Once you have started collecting repeated measurements, the other functions of the IntuiLink toolbar become inactive, with the exception of the Stop Repeated Measurements button. You must stop collecting repeated measurements before you can perform any other functions from the toolbar. If you press the Stop Repeated Measurements button while data is being transferred, the transfer will not stop until the worksheet is complete.

The tab on the worksheet displays a time stamp of when the data was captured. The status bar shows the progress of the repeated measurements.

See Also

Stop obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer

How data is plotted in Excel


Stop repeated measurement
 Stop obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer

To stop obtaining repeated measurements:

1.	Click Stop Repeated Measurements on the network analyzer toolbar.

If this button is unavailable, there are no repeated measurements being obtained.

Note:

You can click Stop Repeated Measurements at any time while repeated measurements are being gathered. If you click this button between collection intervals, the data transfer will stop immediately. If you click this button while data is being gathered, the data transfer will not stop until the worksheet in progress has been completed.

See Also

Start obtaining repeated measurements from the network analyzer


 Create an Excel graph

If you have previously collected data in a tabular format in a worksheet and now want to turn that data into a graph, follow these steps:

1.	In your worksheet, select the cells that you want to use to create a graph.

2.	In the Excel toolbar, click on the Chart Wizard.

3.	Follow the instructions in the Chart Wizard.


Save the current network analyzer settings to a file
 Capture the current network analyzer settings

1.	Click Capture/Restore on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	Click the Capture Calibration checkbox if you want to preserve the calibration settings on the network analyzer. This is the default.

3.	Click Capture New … to capture the current network analyzer state settings.

The Capture New State dialog box appears.

4.	Enter a name for the state settings.

5.	Enter a description (optional).

6.	Click OK. The information appears in the list in the Capture/Restore Settings dialog box.

Note: The instrument state settings are saved in the document.

See Also

Restore previously captured settings to the network analyzer

Export network analyzer settings to a PC file


Download previously stored settings to the network analyzer
 Restore previously captured settings to the network analyzer

1.	Click Capture/Restore on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	From the list in the Capture/Restore Settings dialog box, select the name of the state settings that you previously captured.

3.	Click the Restore Calibration checkbox if you want to restore the saved calibration settings to the network analyzer.

4.	Click Restore.

5.	Check the screen on the network analyzer to verify that the settings were restored.

State settings are not tracked between work sessions. Therefore, when you exit this work session and start the software again, the state settings that you restored in this work session will no longer be in effect.

Note:

You cannot restore state settings to a different model of network analyzer than was used to create the original settings file.

See Also

Capture the current network analyzer settings

Import network analyzer settings from a PC file


Export to File
 Export network analyzer settings to a PC file

1.	Click Capture/Restore on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	From the list in the Capture/Restore Settings dialog box, select the name of the state settings that you previously captured.

3.	Click Export.

4.	Navigate to the desired directory on your PC and enter a file name, with the file extension .sta.

5.	Click Save to store the file.

The file is now saved outside of the toolbar program. Settings are saved automatically within the document by using the capture feature.

See Also

Import network analyzer settings from a PC file

Capture the current network analyzer state settings


Import state settings from a PC file
 Import network analyzer settings from a PC file

1.	Click Capture/Restore on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	Click Import.

3.	Navigate to the desired directory on your PC and select the previously stored state setting file (.sta file extension).

4.	Click Open to open the file and download the stored settings to the network analyzer.

5.	From the list in the Capture/Restore Settings dialog box, select the state setting that you just imported.

6.	Click Restore to restore these settings.

Note:

You cannot import the settings to a different model of network analyzer than was used to create the original settings file.

See Also

Export network analyzer settings to a PC file


Delete saved state settings
 Remove saved state settings

1.	Click Capture/Restore on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	From the list in the Capture/Restore Settings dialog box, select the name of the saved state settings that you want to remove.

3.	Click Remove.

The state settings are deleted and are no longer available.

See Also

Export network analyzer settings to a PC file


 Edit the name of a saved state setting

1.	Click Capture/Restore on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	From the list in the Capture/Restore Settings dialog box, select the name of the saved state settings that you want to edit.

3.	Click Edit Name.

4.	In the Edit State Name dialog box, type in the new name for the saved state setting.

See Also

Export network analyzer settings to a PC file

Remove saved state settings


Insert an image of the network analyzer display in the document
 Get an image of the network analyzer display

1.	Place your cursor in the spreadsheet where you want the image to be displayed.

2.	Click Get Screen Image on the IntuiLink toolbar.

3.	Click Place in Active Document at cursor (the default) to place the image in the current document. An image of the current network analyzer display is placed in the spreadsheet in the active cell. If the active cell is not available (for example, your cursor is in a cell that has data in it) the image will be placed starting at cell A1.

OR

Click Save to File to save the image to a file.

4.	If you Save to File, navigate to the directory in which you want to place the file.

5.	Specify a file format, either .bmp, .wmf, .gif, jpg, .emf, or .tif.

6.	Click Save.

Note:

Depending on the type of instrument connection, there may be up to a 10 second delay while the picture transfers from the instrument.


Delete the network analyzer toolbar from Excel

If you want to delete the network analyzer toolbar from the current Excel session, follow these directions.

1.	From the Tools menu in Excel, select Add-Ins.

2.	Clear the check box next to Agilent Vector Network Analyzer Add-in’.  Make sure that the box is not checked.

3.	Click OK to delete the toolbar.

Alternatively, you can just hide the toolbar.

1.	From the View menu in Excel, select Toolbars.

2.	Uncheck the box next to ‘Agilent Vector Network Analyzer Add-in’.

Note:

When you first install the software, the network analyzer toolbar is automatically loaded each time you start Excel.

See Also

Restore the toolbar to Excel

Select the toolbar startup options


Restore the toolbar to Excel
Restore the network analyzer toolbar to Excel

If you want to restore the network analyzer toolbar to the current Excel session, follow these directions.

1.	From the Tools menu in Excel, select Add-Ins.

2.	Check the box next to ' Agilent Vector Network Analyzer Add-in’.

3.	Click OK to restore the toolbar.

Or if you have just hidden the toolbar:

1.	From the View menu in Excel, select Toolbars.

2.	Check the box next to ‘Agilent Vector Network Analyzer Add-in'.

Note:

When you first install the software, the network analyzer toolbar is automatically loaded each time you start Excel.

See Also

Delete the toolbar from Excel

Select the toolbar startup options


Select the toolbar startup options in Excel
Select the toolbar startup options

When you first install the software, the network analyzer toolbar is automatically loaded each time you start Excel.

Remove toolbar at startup

To prevent the toolbar from loading each time you start Excel:

1.	Locate the file named 'VNA.xla' in the following directory:
\ Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup

2.	Select the above file, click the right mouse button, and then select Delete.

Restore toolbar at startup

If you have disabled automatic loading of the toolbar and now want to re-enable the feature, follow the steps below:

1.	Locate the shortcut file named 'VNA.xla' in the following directory:
\ Program Files\Agilent\IntuiLink\VNA

2.	Select the above file, click the right mouse button, then select Create Shortcut.

3.	Move the shortcut copy of the file to the Microsoft Office Startup folder:
\ Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup


Connect to the Agilent Web Site

You can connect to the Agilent Web page for network analyzers from the toolbar.

1.	Click Connect to VNA Web Page on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	In the About box, click on one of the Web links to connect to the appropriate Agilent Web page.


 Save S2P data to a file

You can get SxP data from the network analyzer and save it in an S1P, S2P, or S3P text file for use with device-simulation software packages.

1.	Click Save S2P on the network analyzer toolbar.

2.	In the Save Data As field, select the format in which you want to save the data.

3.	In the Device Description field, enter a description for this device.

4.	Click OK.

5.	Navigate to the desired directory on your PC and enter a file name.

6.	Click Save.