PCI 6503 to control monochromator

[ck_chan]

Hi everyone,

I want to write a .vi file for PCI-6503 to control a monochromator model 20040, how can I start ??
I am a new to labview and DAQmx.

Now, the PCI-6503 is connected to a TTL Monochromator Stepper interface model 20040,
And through the DAQmx, I can now use the NI-DAQmx test panel to make the monochromator motor run by clicking the port 2 pins on and off(fig attached).
But I have really no idea to put it into LABVIEW 8.2.1 which I have installed.

I want to have some guidelines and examples,
I have tried to find some old post in this forum,
1. Some people suggested "Go to the help menu and select Find Examples. Expand Hardware Input and Output>DAQmx>Digital Generation>Write Digital Chan.vi ", BUT I can only find Analog measurement example but not Digital generation and write digital chan.vi, can anyone give me some advises ??

2. I have download a "Latching DIO.vi" file from this forum, I think it may similar with what I need, however, there are 2 .vi named "write to digital port.vi" and "read from digital port.vi "are missing. How can I get these 2 files ??


Please kindly advise ~~
Thank you very much !!

[CharlesD]

Hey ck_chan,

As for not finding the examples in the example finder let's try two things;

1. ensure that the hardware filter at the bottom left of the example finder is set to : "No Hardware"
2. Navigate to the following folder on your machine : "....Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 8.2\examples\DAQmx\Digital"  This folder should have two .llb containing the example programs that you are looking for.  If they are not there you may want to re-install the DAQmx driver and ensure support for 8.2.1 is selected.

The VI you have attached uses Traditional NI-DAQ drivers.  Unless you absolutely need to use traditional DAQ drivers I suggest you move towards NI-DAQmx drivers and examples.  The reason you cannot see these functions is because you likely have not installed the NI-DAQ traditional drivers. 

hope this helps let us know if you need any more help.

[ck_chan]

CharlesD

Thanks a lot ! I can find the "Write Digital Chan.vi" now !!

But there are other problems,
1. when I open the "Write Digital Chan.vi" and try to run it, it comes out an error as attached.

2. I have reinstalled the drivers, I find 2 .llb which are called "generate values" and "read values" in "....Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 8.2\examples\DAQmx\Digital", but I cannot find the "write to digital port.vi" and "read from digital port.vi" for running the "Latching DIO.vi"

Please kindly advise ~~
Thank you very much !!

[CharlesD]

Your Latching DIO.vi is a VI that uses Traditional NI-DAQ.  This means that you need to install Traditional NI-DAQ.  both of those functions "write to digital port.vi" and "read from digital port.vi" are Traditional NI-DAQ calls.  PLease ensure that you have installed the latest versions of traditional NI-DAQ.  This can be found on the following webpage.

http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/570/lang/en

Install that driver and then restart labview and make sure that traditional NI-DAQ can be found in the functions pallete under: function--> Measurement I/O --> Traditional NI-DAQ.  After that you should be able to open that program Latching DIO

[ck_chan]

thx a lot ~
But how about the this problem ?

1. when I open the "Write Digital Chan.vi" and try to run it, it comes out an error as attached before.

Is that anything I should set (i.e address,port... etc) to connect the PCI-6503 with the LABVIEW ?

Please kindly advise ~~

Sunny Chan
ck_chan0731@hotmail.com

[CharlesD]

The only thing you need to do is specify the Device name and the port/line that you will be writing to.  To find this information open up Measurement and Automation Explorer --> Devices and interfaces (On the left part of the program window) --> DAQmx Devices.   Find the PCI 6503 and determine the device name (Found in Quotations). 

Once you have this information go back to your program and specify in the Channel Properties box the following: DeviceName/port0/line0:7  This would mean that you are specifying that you will write to lines 0-7 of port 0 on the device that has the given name: DeviceName.    You will need to replace DeviceName with the name of your specific device.  

If you cannot find the device undermeasurement and Automation Explorer let us know because this likely implies that the device has not be installed properly!

Thank you