Can the 816x mainframes be controlled via GPIB?

Yes, the 816x mainframes offer complete GPIB control using either SCPI commands or the VXI PNP drivers. The VXI PNP drivers will allow the user to control the mainframe in the following programming languages: Keysight VEE, Microsoft C, Microsoft Visual Basic, NI Labview. A URL for the VXI PNP drivers is below. Plug & Play Instrument Drivers

Keysight Technologies has also recently introduced the Photonics Foundation Library. These drivers provide advanced measurement capability for swept wavelength polarization dependent loss and insertion loss measurements.

The logging and stability applications both acquire a user defined number of power readings.

The logging application requires the user to input: A) number of data points, B) averaging time. Consequently, the total time for the logging application is the number of samples multiplied by the averaging time.

The stability application requires the user to input: A) number of measurements, B) averaging time, and C) total measurement time. The mainframe will compute a period time between measurements to achieve the user specified total measurement time.