EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Communication with Alaris/Asena Syringe Pump

I reckon that for stuff like this it's always better, at least at first (that is, until you have "found the way") to use an old PC ("Pentium 1" under good old MS-DOS) that still has a traditional 9-pin D-shell serial connection. I would try that first.

And using (as indicated earlier) a "straight" (pin to pin) serial cable (rather than a "null modem" cable, that can be identified by having pins 2 and 3 crossed over).

By the way, I have made a start entering the code given in the "Protocol" document (which dates from 2003) but have not yet had much joy, as both C compilers I have tried (Borland Turbo C++ 3.0 and my old faithful Turbo C 2.0) throw out an error message at the line:-


As mentioned in the "Protocol", Block needs to be a pointer to the "start address of the array containing the syringe pump serial number string", and BlockSize is the length of the serial number (ie, 10). So I need to get some dummy values in there. Maybe a short program to call this one using suitable arguments, or something like that.

But having stared at that one for a good while, I must concede that my C is (more than) a little rusty (and all but one* of my C books have long gone), but I hope to nail it down when I get some time.

* That's "Born to Code in C" (1989) by the great Herbert Schildt. I just haven't been able to part with that one.

Good morning...

I have just read all your answers and i just cant read anything from the pump...if anyone have any idea where is the problem it will be great!! i think that the problem is in the respone time of the pump...if anyone of you had worked with the pump and had good results please try to help me...

thanks

What makes you think that the response time of the pump is the problem? Does it not just sit there, patiently waiting for signals, ready to respond immediately?

As you probably know, you can prove the pump's RS-232 interface by carrying out the "Comms test" (code 123) - and linking pins 2 and 3 (Tx and Rx), etc.

Maybe the "problem" is at the other end. The settings at the PC com port. What set-up are you using? Serial cable, PC etc.?

What does the "Protocol" say about Baud rates (if anything)?

I´m using a rs232 D9-type cable and my settings are (the same in the communiction protocol):

Baud rate: 9600
Start bits: 1
Stop bits: 1
Data bits: 8
Flow control: none
parity: none

Yes i think that the pump should response to the signals, but its not happening...

A straight (pin to pin) serial cable? And are you still using a USB port at the PC end ... and (if so) how is the RS-232 to USB adaption being handled?

I only ask as my own experiments* some time ago with RS-232 to USB were unsuccessful, and I ended up reverting to my good old seventeen year old PC in order to get a result! That is, using traditional (proper?) serial ports.

* Not involving an Asena, but a "pocket oscilloscope" (if I remember rightly).

Now i´m using a straight (pin to pin) serial cable...but have you haver used this pump? and if what do you have to enable in the pump configuration?

I've never tried communicating with one of these pumps (apart from "Teach and Learn" between pumps)* ... and the only thing I remember about the RS-232 option is that it needs to be enabled via code 251.

Lastly ... I guess you don't have an RS-232 "breakout box" available to you? One would be very handy, as it can be used to watch what (if anything) is going on (lamps flashing indicating a signal, and so forth). Very useful when playing with stuff like this. But you could always make up your own equivalent (after sacrificing a serial cable), and using a 'scope.

* RS-232 has to be turned off (disabled) for "Teach and Learn" using the IrDA ports.

Here are a couple of links that may be useful:-

Docklight

Termite

I seem to recall that "Nurse Call" has to be enabled too, again on Code 251.

- Using an old computer or laptop with a traditional RS232 port (in stead of using USB) could make all the difference.

- Be sure to enable Remote Control and Nurse Call.

- I use a Baud Rate of 38400. I don't know if this makes a difference for you, but it works for me on this setting.

- Also, check the software version on the pump (I think you can do this via menu 123 or 251, but do check the manual to be sure). Up to version 2.3.6, remote control can be enabled. In newer versions, this option is disabled.