diff --git a/devsupApp/src/dbfield.c b/devsupApp/src/dbfield.c
index d3ce91f..b949aba 100644
--- a/devsupApp/src/dbfield.c
+++ b/devsupApp/src/dbfield.c
@@ -4,12 +4,31 @@
 #undef _XOPEN_SOURCE
 
 #include <Python.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_NUMPY
+#include <numpy/ndarrayobject.h>
+#endif
 
 #include <epicsVersion.h>
 #include <dbCommon.h>
 #include <dbAccess.h>
 #include <dbStaticLib.h>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_NUMPY
+static int dbf2np_map[DBF_ENUM+1] = {
+    NPY_BYTE,
+    NPY_BYTE,
+    NPY_UBYTE,
+    NPY_INT16,
+    NPY_UINT16,
+    NPY_INT32,
+    NPY_UINT32,
+    NPY_FLOAT32,
+    NPY_FLOAT64,
+    NPY_INT16,
+};
+static PyArray_Descr* dbf2np[DBF_ENUM+1];
+#endif
+
 typedef struct {
     PyObject_HEAD
 
@@ -152,6 +171,28 @@ static PyObject* pyField_putval(pyField *self, PyObject* args)
     Py_RETURN_NONE;
 }
 
+static PyObject *pyField_getarray(pyField *self)
+#ifdef HAVE_NUMPY
+{
+    int flags = NPY_CARRAY;
+    char *data=self->addr.pfield;
+    npy_int dims[1] = {self->addr.no_elements};
+    PyArray_Descr *desc;
+    if(self->addr.field_type>DBF_ENUM) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "Can not map field type to numpy type");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    desc = dbf2np[self->addr.field_type];
+    Py_XINCREF(desc);
+    return PyArray_NewFromDescr(&PyArray_Type, desc, 1, dims, NULL, data, flags, (PyObject*)self);
+}
+#else
+{
+    PyErr_SetNone(PyExc_NotImplementedError);
+    return NULL;
+}
+#endif
+
 static PyMethodDef pyField_methods[] = {
     {"name", (PyCFunction)pyField_name, METH_NOARGS,
      "Return Names (\"record\",\"field\")"},
@@ -161,6 +202,8 @@ static PyMethodDef pyField_methods[] = {
      "Returns scalar version of field value"},
     {"putval", (PyCFunction)pyField_putval, METH_VARARGS,
      "Sets field value from a scalar"},
+    {"getarray", (PyCFunction)pyField_getarray, METH_NOARGS,
+     "Return a numpy ndarray refering to this field for in-place operations."},
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}
 };
 
@@ -222,6 +265,8 @@ static PyTypeObject pyField_type = {
 
 int pyField_prepare(void)
 {
+    size_t i;
+
     pyField_type.tp_flags = Py_TPFLAGS_DEFAULT|Py_TPFLAGS_BASETYPE;
     pyField_type.tp_flags |= Py_TPFLAGS_HAVE_GETCHARBUFFER|Py_TPFLAGS_HAVE_NEWBUFFER;
     pyField_type.tp_methods = pyField_methods;
@@ -231,6 +276,16 @@ int pyField_prepare(void)
     pyField_type.tp_new = PyType_GenericNew;
     if(PyType_Ready(&pyField_type)<0)
         return -1;
+
+    import_array1(-1);
+
+#ifdef HAVE_NUMPY
+    for(i=0; i<=DBF_ENUM; i++) {
+        dbf2np[i] = PyArray_DescrFromType(dbf2np_map[i]);
+        assert(dbf2np[i]);
+    }
+#endif
+
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -240,3 +295,13 @@ void pyField_setup(PyObject *module)
     Py_INCREF(typeobj);
     PyModule_AddObject(module, "_Field", (PyObject*)&pyField_type);
 }
+
+void PyField_cleanup(void)
+{
+    size_t i;
+
+    for(i=0; i<=DBF_ENUM; i++) {
+        Py_XDECREF(dbf2np[i]);
+        dbf2np[i] = NULL;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/devsupApp/src/dbrec.c b/devsupApp/src/dbrec.c
index c267432..3fc6827 100644
--- a/devsupApp/src/dbrec.c
+++ b/devsupApp/src/dbrec.c
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ static int pyRecord_Init(pyRecord *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kws)
         return -1;
 
     if(dbFindRecord(&self->entry, recname)){
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "Record not found");
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "No record by this name");
         return -1;
     }
     return 0;
@@ -175,7 +175,6 @@ int pyRecord_prepare(void)
     pyRecord_type.tp_init = (initproc)pyRecord_Init;
     pyRecord_type.tp_compare = (cmpfunc)pyRecord_compare;
 
-    pyRecord_type.tp_new = PyType_GenericNew;
     if(PyType_Ready(&pyRecord_type)<0)
         return -1;
     return 0;
diff --git a/devsupApp/src/setup.c b/devsupApp/src/setup.c
index eb97dea..ea73647 100644
--- a/devsupApp/src/setup.c
+++ b/devsupApp/src/setup.c
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 #undef _XOPEN_SOURCE
 
 #include <Python.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_NUMPY
+#include <numpy/ndarrayobject.h>
+#endif
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 
@@ -18,6 +21,13 @@
 #include <epicsThread.h>
 #include <epicsExit.h>
 
+int pyField_prepare(void);
+void pyField_setup(PyObject *module);
+void PyField_cleanup(void);
+
+int pyRecord_prepare(void);
+void pyRecord_setup(PyObject *module);
+
 /* dictionary of initHook names */
 static PyObject *hooktable;
 
@@ -62,6 +72,8 @@ static void cleanupPy(void *junk)
 
     PyEval_RestoreThread(state);
 
+    PyField_cleanup();
+
     /* release extra reference for hooktable */
     Py_DECREF(hooktable);
     hooktable = NULL;
@@ -176,20 +188,13 @@ static PyMethodDef devsup_methods[] = {
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}
 };
 
-int pyField_prepare(void);
-void pyField_setup(PyObject *module);
-
-int pyRecord_prepare(void);
-void pyRecord_setup(PyObject *module);
-
 /* initialize "magic" builtin module */
 static void init_dbapi(void)
 {
     PyObject *mod, *hookdict, *pysuptable;
     pystate *st;
-    PyGILState_STATE state;
 
-    state = PyGILState_Ensure();
+    import_array();
 
     hooktable = PyDict_New();
     if(!hooktable)
@@ -221,7 +226,6 @@ static void init_dbapi(void)
     pyField_setup(mod);
     pyRecord_setup(mod);
 
-    PyGILState_Release(state);
 }
 
 #include <iocsh.h>
@@ -240,11 +244,20 @@ static void fileRun(const iocshArgBuf *args){evalFilePy(args[0].sval);}
 
 static void pySetupReg(void)
 {
+    PyGILState_STATE state;
+
     epicsThreadOnce(&setupPyOnceId, &setupPyOnce, NULL);
     iocshRegister(&codeDef, &codeRun);
     iocshRegister(&fileDef, &fileRun);
     initHookRegister(&pyhook);
+
+    state = PyGILState_Ensure();
     init_dbapi();
+    if(PyErr_Occurred()) {
+        PyErr_Print();
+        PyErr_Clear();
+    }
+    PyGILState_Release(state);
 }
 
 #include <epicsExport.h>