HP VEE is a programming language (a.k.a., graphical programming language) optimized for building test and measurement applications - especially programs with operator interface.

• The Menu Bar provides menus holding the commands and icons used to build your programs.
• The Tool Bar displays buttons as shortcuts to the most common tasks in HP VEE. (Just place the mouse pointer over a button and HP VEE displays the button's function.)
• The Program Explorer displays the program's hierarchy of functions.
• The Work Area is where you construct your program with icons. This is simply a window displayed by default. As you program various functions, they will each have their own window. Multiple windows can be seen at once (Multiple Document Interface). You can use the Program Explorer to easily navigate between these various windows.
• The Status Bar will explain the object or menu selection you are highlighting as well as give you information on the programming compatibility mode you are in - STD, VEE 4, or VEE 3 for example.

1. Click and hold Device to open the menu. A pull-down menu appears.
2. Move the mouse pointer down the Virtual Source submenu, then right to Function Generator, and then release the mouse button.
3. Move the Function Generator to the center of the work area, and click to place the object.
4. Now open the Function Generator object men-u by clicking the horizontal bar in the upper left-hand corner of the object.

1. Select File => Save As ... and complete the dialog box.
2. Select File => Exit to close the HP VEE application window.

1. PC: In Windows95 or Windows NT 4.0 or greater, click Start, moves to the HP VEE 5.0 submenu, and select HP VEE.
2. Select File => Open and complete the Open File dialog box.
3. Click the Run button - which looks like a small arrowhead - on the tool bar (below the Debug menu).

• Click Help in an object menu to get specific information on that object.
• Click Help on the main menu bar to access the online help facility for HP VEE, which will give information on contents and index, instrument drivers, HP VEE on the web, program examples, and revision.
• Use the Help system to search for HP VEE topics you need to locate. The Help system can also "jump" to related subjects.
• You could learn HP VEE entirely online through experimentation and consulting the Help system.

1. Place the mouse cursor over the object menu and double-click.

1. After an object has been deleted, click Edit => Paste. An outline of the object appears. Place the object and click to release it.

1. Click on an object to highlight it, then click Edit => Copy.

1. Open the object menu and select Clone.

An outline of the duplicated object appears.

2. Move the outline to the desired location, and click to place the object.

1. Open the object menu and select Move.

The object is highlighted.

2. Place the mouse pointer over the object, press and hold the left mouse button (called "dragging"), while you move the object to the desired location.
3. Release to place the object.

1. Open the object menu and select Properties...

A Properties dialog box appears with the current title highlighted.

2. Type the new title and click OK

1. Double-click the object title bar to go directly to the Properties dialog box.
2. Type in the new title and click OK.

1. To switch from an open to iconic view, click the dot on the right end of the object's title bar. To return to an open view, double-click the icon.

1. Place the mouse pointer over the lower right-hand corner of the object until you see a right-angle, then click-and-drag to the desired position.

- OR -

Open the object menu and click Size. You will see a small right angle on the cursor.

2. Move the right angle to desired position of the lower-right corner and click.

1. An object is selected when you click it. HP VEE puts a shadow behind it. To deselect it, just move the mouse pointer over any open area and click.

1. Press Ctrl, then click-and-drag a rectangle around the objects to be selected.

1. To select all objects, click Edit => Select All. (Or press Ctrl-A.)
2. To deselect them, click on an open area in the window.

1. Click Edit on the menu bar and select the operation you want.

1. Click on or just outside the data output pin of one object, the click on the data input pin of another. (A line appears behind the pointer as you move from one pin to the other.)

1. (Make sure there is at least one icon in the work area.) Place the mouse pointer anywhere on the background of the work area, press and hold the left mouse button, and move the work area in any direction.

1. Select File => New.

1. Press Shift-Ctrl and click the line you want to delete. Or select Edit => Delete Line and click the line you want to delete.

1. Open the object menu and select Add Terminal => Data Input

1. Open the object menu and select Delete Terminal => Input.... choose the input to delete, and click OK.

1. Double-click on the terminal. Change any of the fields, if appropriate, then click OK.

1. Double-click the terminal. The Name input field is highlighted.
2. Type the new name and click OK.

(The above was taken directly out of Helsel, Robert - Hewlett-Packard Company. Visual Programming with HP VEE, 3^rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall PTR, 1998.)

The HP 33120A is a high-performance 15 MHz synthesized function generator with built-in arbitrary waveform capability. It uses direct digital-synthesis techniques to create a stable, accurate output signal for clean, low-distortion sine waves. It also gives you fast rise and fall-time square wave, and linear ramp waveforms down to 10 mHz and up to 15 MHz in most cases. Other standard waveforms you can generate easily with this state-of-the-art equipment includes triangle, noise, sin(x)/x (or Sinc function), exponential rise and fall, cardiac, and dc volts. One of the most important features that comes with this equipment is its four downloadable 16,000-point arbitrary waveform memories, which means you can create user defined arbitrary waveforms and download it onto the non-volatile memory of the function generator for late use. This is an extremely versatile feature that allows for almost endless possibilities of waveforms this equipment can generate. One other feature worth mentioning is that this function generator has built-in standard HP-IB and RS-232 interfaces, this allows it to be connected to other compatible HP testing equipment and to a work station equipped with an interface card, this way the operation of this equipment can be remotely controlled by the work station. We will demonstrate this capability using HP VEE a little bit later.

Now familiarize yourself with the front panel of the function generator, although all those keys on there could seem a little confusing, but they are actually organized into 4 groups.

Method 1: Use the arrow keys to edit individual digits. Use the left or right arrows to move the highlighted digit to the left or right, then use up or down arrows to increase or decrease the value of the highlighted digit.

Method 2: Use the arrow keys and the knob. Use the left right arrows to move the highlighted digit as before, but instead of using the up or down arrows, use the knob to increase or decrease the value of the highlighted digit.

Method 3: Use the "Enter Number" mode. If you observe carefully, you will see that many of the keys on the front panel has a single digit number to their left, you can enter a number directly using these keys. First push the "Enter Number" key which is directly below the "Arb" key, then enter the desired number using the numeric keys, then either press "Enter" or one of the four arrow keys which each represent a unit of measurement printed to its right. To cancel anytime in this process, just press "Shift- Cancel".

Now you have familiarized yourself with the front panel, let's do some simple examples.

Step 1: Turn on the function generator; the power button is near the left most edge of the front panel.

Step 2: After the generator has completed its start up self-test, press the "sine" key which is marked by a little sine wave.

Step 3: Enter the desired frequency by first pressing the "Freq" key, then use one of the three above methods to enter a frequency of 10 kHz. If the "Enter Number" mode is on, the words "Num" will flash on the screen. Note: You can change the units by highlighting it first using the left or right arrows, then use either the knob or the up and down arrows key to cycle through the available units.

Step 4: Enter the amplitude by first pressing the "Ampl" key, and then enter an amplitude of 5 volts using again one of the three methods described above.

Now you should have a sine wave with frequency of 10 kHz and amplitude of 5 volts.

Exercise: Change the frequency of this sine wave to 500 Hz, and amplitude to 500 mV.

Exercise: Generate a square wave with frequency 2.5 MHz and amplitude of 65000 µV using two different methods.

Bonus: Set the duty cycle for this square wave to 60%. Note: for square wave, duty cycle can go from 20% - 80%.

Step 1: Press the "Offset" key.

Step 2: Enter a magnitude of - 1.5 volts. Note: If the "Enter Number" mode is enabled, press the "+-" key to toggle the value between positive and negative.

There are five built in arbitrary waveforms (sinc, negative ramp, exponential rise, exponential fall, and cardiac). The list may also contain up to four user defined arbitrary waveform names.

Step 1: Press the "Shift and Arb" keys, which will bring up the arbitrary waveform list.

Step 2: The first choice on the list is sinc, to see the other members of the list, either use the knob or the left and right arrow keys to cycle through the choices. Now go back to sinc, and press "Enter". Note the "Arb" indicator turns on.

Step 3: Now give this waveform a frequency of 20 kHz and an amplitude of 5 volts as before.

Exercise: Display the other four built in waveforms in order, adjust frequency or amplitude as desired so you can see what they all look like.

You can store up to three different instrument states in non-volatile memory. This enables you to recall the entire instrument configuration with just a few key presses from the front panel, even after the instrument has been turned off.

Step 1: Create a Triangle waveform with frequency 1 kHz and amplitude 3 volts.

Step 2: Press the "Shift-Store" keys to turn on the state storage mode. Three memory locations (numbered 1, 2, and 3) are available to store instrument configurations. Right now "STORE 1" should be on the screen representing memory location 1, it will remain there for 10 seconds, repeat this step as needed. Use the up and down arrows to select memory location 2.

Step 3: Press "Enter" to store current state to memory location 2.

To recall a previously stored state, first change the configuration of the current state by generating a sine wave.

Step 4: Press the "Recall" key.

Step 5: Use up and down arrow to select the correct memory location, in this case, memory location 2.

Step 6: Press "Enter" key to recall the state.

As mentioned above, HP 33120A is capable of being controlled remotely by a computer; many complicated tasks can be significantly simplified using the computer interface. Assuming you have read the section on HP VEE, we will now go through a quick example of controlling the function generator using HP VEE. In this example, we will generate a frequency sweep; this is useful to determine the frequency response of a system.

Step l: Start HP VEE, place the HP33120A instrument panel driver in the working area by going to I/0 -> Instrument Manager.

Step 2: In the panel driver object, to the right of the "Reset" button, there should be a dialog box with the name of the current panel name. Right now, it should be "Main Panel". From this panel, you can select the appropriate waveform to be swept and set other attributes for this waveform as desired. For this example, select the sinusoidal wave with amplitude of 1 volt. Note: To change an attribute, just left click on the corresponding dialog box, select or type the desired value, then select "OK".

Step 3: Left click on dialog box with the words "Main Panel", from the pop up window, highlight "Sweep Panel", and then click on "OK". Notice the dialog box now says "Sweep Panel" and the controls on the panel have now changed to the appropriate sweep controls.

Step 4: Set the "Swp Start" to 1000 Hz, this is the frequency where the sweeping will start from. Set "Swp Stop" to 100 kHz, this is the frequency where the sweeping will end. Together, they define the range of the sweep. Leave the rest of the attributes alone. "Swp Time" should be 1, "Spacing" should be linear, "TrigSource" should be immediate.

Step 5: Click on the "Swp State" box to toggle it on, now the function generator should start sweeping from 1 kHz to 100 kHz continuously, then back to 1 kHz to start over.

Step 6: To stop the sweeping, click on "Swp State" dialog box again to toggle it off.

Exercise: Generate a square wave sweep from 1 kHz to 10 kHz with sweep time of 2s.

The HPE3631A is a high performance 80-Watt triple output DC power supply with HP-IB and RS-232 interfaces, it has excellent load and line regulation and low ripple and noise, as well as the ability to store and recall instrument states.

The operation of this power supply is fairly simple and straightforward. The following example illustrates usage of the equipment.

Example: In this example, we will set an output level for the 6 volts output terminal.

Step 1: Turn on the power supply; the power button is located at the lower left hand corner of the front panel.

Step 2: Press the "+6V" key, which is the first key from the left on the first row. Now the screen should show the current output voltage of the 6-volt output.

Step 3: To change the output voltage, either use the big round knob or use the left and right arrow key on the right side of the front panel. Set it to +5 volts.

Exercise: Send -20 volts to the -25 volt output terminal.

You can also store and recall the current instrument state using very similar procedures as for the HP33120A function generator.

Another key you will frequently use is the "Output On/Off" key; this is to toggle all the outputs either on or off. It is recommended that you turn off the outputs when making a change to your circuits.

Introduction: HP 54616C offers exceptional waveform viewing and measurements in a small, lightweight package. This oscilloscopes give you: 1 ns peak detect; 2 GSa/s sample rate; 500 MHz bandwidth, and 1 ns/div Main and Delayed time bases; Selectable input impedance; Protection of the internal 50 Ohm load; Horizontal and vertical pan and zoom; Color Display. This oscilloscope is very easy to use because of their familiar controls and real time display.

• Use a cable or a probe to connect a signal to channel 1.
• The oscilloscope has automatic probe sensing if you are using the probes supplied with the scope, or other probes with probe sensing.
• If you are not using automatic probe sensing, then follow these next two steps.
• To set the input impedance, press [1]. Select the desired Input impedance of 50 Ohm or 1 M-Ohm.
• To set the probe attenuation factor press [1]. Select the Next Menu softkey. Next toggle the Probe softkey to change the attenuation factor to match the probe you are using.

1. Connect the 10:1 probe from channel 1 to the front-panel probe compensation signal on the oscilloscope.
2. Press [Autoscale].
3. Use a nonmetallic tool to adjust the trimmer capacitor on the probe for the flattest pulse possible as displayed on the scope.

1. Connect a signal to the oscilloscope.
2. Press [Autoscale].

• Press [Setup], and then press the Undo Autoscale softkey.

The following exercise guides you through the vertical keys, knobs, and status line.