One of the cool features of AMETEK Programmable Power's SGX Series of power supplies is that it supports an LXI Class C Ethernet interface. This allows you to connect the SGX Series to your network and control it remotely from any computer on the network.

The LXI standard specifies that every LXI Class C instrument must:

• Have a standard Ethernet interface,
• Serve a web interface viewable from a standard web browser.
• Provide IVI drivers.

To communicate with an SGX power supply via the built-in web server, open a Web browser and type the IP address of the power supply in the “Address” field. Then, tap the ENTER key to launch the power supply’s Ethernet Web page interface.

The layout of an LXI-compliant web page includes a banner showing the model, manufacturer, and device name of the instrument. As shown in the example below, the model number is SGX 60/250X, the manufacturer is AMETEK Programmable Power, and the device name is LXI-SGX60/250X-SGX60/250X-ABCDEF.

Below the banner are four tabs, each linked to its corresponding page. You can access the HOME page (default), Interactive Control page, and LXI Identification page without logging in, but you must enter a user ID and password to access the IP Configuration page. The home page (shown above) is an information-only page. It displays all of the current information about the supply.

The IP Configuration page (shown below) is password-protected to prevent unauthorized changes to the remote operation configuration. You are only required to complete the information for the parameters that you wish to change, all previously entered and saved information remains by default.

The information on this page includes:

• Host Name: The default host name is SGX. You may change this name as long as it is unique. Host names are limited to 15 characters for LXI compliance.
• TCP/IP Configuration: The power supply can operate in DHCP or static IP configuration.
• Static IP Configuration: Click the radio button next to Static IP to manually configure some or all of the following the Ethernet/LAN parameters: IP address, subnet mask, and gateway.
• DHCP Configuration: Click the radio button next to DHCP, for dynamic address acquisition from the DHCP server.
• Auto IP: If enabled, when there is no DHCP server available, the power supply will assign itself an IP address in the range from 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. Click in the box next to Auto IP to check (enable Auto IP); click again to uncheck (disable Auto IP).

The Interactive Control page (shown below) allows to input properly formatted SCPI commands to control the SGX supply. Refer to programming manual for those commands. Some commands and responses to them can be seen on the web page, as shown below.

The LAN interface is only one of several remote-control interfaces for the SGX Series. Also available are RS-232 and GPIB interfaces.

For more information about these interfaces, and how to use them, refer to the SGX Series RS232, Ethernet and IEEE 488.2 Programming Manual. You can also contact AMETEK Programmable Power by sending email to sales.ppd@ametek.com or phoning 800-733-5427.