Control Alicat mass flow controllers (MC series) withLabveiw

[JD_war_eagle]

Hi ywhbrc,

I can not be certain as to the brand that bo237 was able to use successfully, but I have seen some issues caused by using the cheap USB to serial adapters so I would recommend going with a more high profile adapter as was suggested.  This thread: http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/Problems-With-USB-to-Serial-Adapter/td-p/1468626 provides some very good information to take into account on USB to serial adapters with Labview as well as some recommendations.

[ywhbrc]

Thanks a lot! I'll look into those threads more!

[davekorpi]

I see you want to use the serial port.

Any particular reason?

Why not scan all analog channels at 1KHz?

Then, if you need to ADJUST the flow do it ONLY when necessary...

The RS-232 communication protocol that Alicat, or anyone for that matter, uses will never be as fast and reading and writing the the MFC's.

Or... NOT having to buy a USB DIO from NI might be a good reason? 

The USB 6008 is sweeeeeet at $169 for ONE. Check it out!

http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/201986

Let me know the reasons so I may learn.

Have you checked out the Sierra 50 Series for OEM?

http://www.sierrainstruments.com/products/50series.html

They are inexpensive and they ALSO have 0-5 VDC, 4-20 mA as well as RS-232 and RS-485 but reading the analog will be the FASTEST way to get info from them if you need it FAAAASSSSST!

Anyone know of a WIRELESS version that does what the USB 6008 does but NOT at a super high price?

Thanks,

Dave Korpi

[ywhbrc]

Hi Dave:

I guess the only reason would be that Alicat has this BB9 that can control MFCs and pressure gauges, and it communicates to the computer via a serial port. It seems easier than setting up multiple analog I/O ports via a DAQ system. We're already got the Alicat MFCs, so we can't really look into other brands at this point. Thanks for the suggestion though.

ywhbrc