Building a Simple Windows App for Rigol DM3058E Multimeter Logging

If you’ve ever wanted an easy way to log measurements from your Rigol DM3058E digital multimeter without relying on cloud services or complex setups, this project might be exactly what you need. I recently built a lightweight Windows 64-bit application that communicates with the Rigol DM3058E via a COM port, allowing you to capture data and save it in a clean CSV format.

Why Rigol DM3058E?

The Rigol DM3058E is a high-precision 5½-digit digital multimeter designed for laboratory and industrial environments. It offers excellent accuracy, multiple measurement modes (voltage, current, resistance, frequency), and supports remote control via SCPI commands over serial or LAN. For many users, its serial interface is the simplest way to automate data collection. Full spec

What Does the App Do?

• Direct COM Port Communication: No drivers beyond the standard USB-to-serial are needed.
• CSV Data Logging: Measurements are saved in a structured Timestamp;Value format for easy analysis.
• Configurable Polling Interval: You can set how frequently the app queries the multimeter, making it ideal for both quick snapshots and long-term monitoring.
• Offline and Lightweight: No cloud dependencies, no heavy frameworks—just a simple executable that runs locally.

How It Works

The app sends SCPI commands to the Rigol DM3058E through the COM port, retrieves the measurement values, and writes them to a CSV file. The first line of the file contains headers (Timestamp;Value), and subsequent lines log the data at the configured interval.

Here’s a simplified snippet of the core logic:

using (var writer = new StreamWriter(autoLogFilePath, false, Encoding.UTF8))
{
    writer.WriteLine("Timestamp;Value");
    string timestamp = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
    string value = rawValue.Split(' ')[0]; // Remove extra text after space
    writer.WriteLine($"{timestamp};{value}");

Why This Matters

Many engineers and hobbyists just need a quick way to log data without installing .NET or dealing with complex setups. This app is portable, easy to configure, and does exactly what you need—nothing more, nothing less.

Below are the outputs from the program in automatic logging mode. After the settings are applied, the data is stored in a CSV file for easy analysis. Additionally, the log.txt file is quite useful because it shows all input and output operations to the COM port, making troubleshooting and monitoring straightforward.