Can I acquire from more than one device at once using Labview?

[uscmagz]

I have two SC-2345 boxes. One is device 3 and one is device 4. Can I acquire from both of these boxes at once? I know for most of the AI functions you just put in one Device number. But what if I want to acquire from 32 channels at once? How would I do this? Your help and tips are appreciated.

ALSO- If you know about SC-2345 boxes, how many Analog input channels can I use? I see 8 slots for AI and the other 8 appear to be for signal conditioning. Can I still use these for AI? Could I have 16 thermocouple modules in one box?

THANKS!
Lauren

[Spencer S.]

Lauren,

Yes, you can simultaneously acquire from both devices. However, each device will require its own analog input task. Furthermore, if you want to synchronize the acquisitions, you will need to connect the DAQ devices that are cabled to the SC-2345s with a RTSI cable. Below, I have included a link to a KnowledgeBase detailing RTSI:

KnowledgeBase: What is RTSI?

In order to understand the required programming structure, you may want to examine the following examples that are available in LabVIEW (one uses NI-DAQmx and the other uses Traditional NI-DAQ):

NI-DAQmx
Multi-Device Synch-Shared Timebase-Cont Acquisition.vi

Tradi
tional NI-DAQ
Two E-Series Shared ScanClk.vi

With regards to your second question, the SC-2345 provides access to 16 analog input channels through 8 modules. Most analog input modules have two channels. However, both of the SCC-TC series thermocouple input modules only have one channel because the other is used for the built-in CJC sensor. Thus, using the SCC-TC series modules, you will only be able to acquire from eight thermocouples with a single SC-2345.

Good luck with your application.

Spencer S.