Pulses [width, delay, time, trigger}

[Jennifer O]

Hi the_intern,

Since you are working with non-isolated boards, the grounds are actually shared (i.e. they are all connected inside the board.  When working at lower speeds (including 8MHz) you should be fine connecting at least one ground.  If working at higher speeds >25MHz noise can become a factor on the ground lines and for signal integrity you may want to connect each of the digital grounds.

Use the M-Series Manual previously lined to learn about the capabilities of your NI-6289.  You should be able to run each of your analog outputs at full range.  The output will be the set voltage with respect to the ground.  Therefore to make sure that the device receiving the signal gets the appropriate voltage, you will want to connect the ground(s).

Refer to the NI-6509 manual for information on signal connections for the static lines.  Ground is typically not needed with the digital signals as it is single ended logic at slower rates.  However it could be used to provide a reference or as a path to ground in some applications as shown in the manual.

For the RTSI cable, you will want the extended cable as it will be able to reach to the longer board.  The part number is 777562-05. 

Regards,

Jennifer O.

[the_intern]

Thanks Jennifer. Does NI makes extended RTSI cable for only two cards? If not, is it okay to have other (I am using only 2) 3 RTSI connectors not connected anywhere in the computer?

[Jennifer O]

All of the RTSI cables available are shown on the page I linked for you.  It is okay if you do not use 3 of the connectors.  This cable will enable you to expand the system to include other devices in the future if your application changes or expands.

The cables are ribbon style connectors.  For the extended cable which needs to be longer to be able to span the length of a full PCI card, it is possible to add a couple of more connectors to the ribbon to make it more flexible in terms of the applications it can be used for.  You can consider the extra three connectors "bonus".

Regards,

Jennifer O.