Cheapest way to output a TTL pulse using a PXIe-1062Q chassis

[X.]

I have recently upgraded a setup from a PXI-6534 board in a PXI chassis to a PXIe-6537 board in a PXIe-1062Q chassis.

One of the things I forgot I would need is a way to output a TTL to some devices I control from the same LabVIEW software I am using... I have a 6052E board in my PXI chassis, which I was using with a CA-1000 breakout box to get that TTL, but I am still using this board in my PXI chassis, so that's not an option.

What is the simplest (cheapest?) way to get a TTL pulse out of my PXIe system? I can't use the PXIe-6537 board as it is used for other (fast) tasks (I mean the connector is directly linked to a device it communicates with).

Thanks,

X.

[The_Red_Barron · Accepted solution]

Howdy X!

The cheapest way I can think of to generate a TTL pulse would be to use the USB-6501.  Note that it only supports software timing so the length of the pulse will not be exact, but if this fits within the requirements for you application it is the cheap solution.  Otherwise I'd recommend getting a PXI DAQ card like the PXI-6220.

Regards

[Henrik_Volkers]

If you know what you do(*), you maybe can route a unused DIO or PFI of the 6537 to some of the PXI (trigger?) lines and use a breakout board or just a PXI connector to grab that signal 😉

Additional buffering and a correct termination might be wise, I would take a deep look into the PXIe bus specifications first.

But how about that device you are talking to? No chance to grab an unused DO on that side of the connector?

Wait, most of the PXI cards I know have an indicator LED that can be controlled by properties. How about this? Grab the signal from the card(*) or attach a photodiode.

(*) Probably voiding the warranty.

You ask for a cheap, not for a professional solution.

[Henrik_Volkers]

A look into the PXI-1062 Backplane manual show:

Connector J26
Use connector J26 in conjunction with J29 for interfacing with an inhibit
switch and LED. You do not need to connect anything to J26 for basic
backplane power up. The power button (PWRBTN#) signal is a momentary
pushbutton signal that tells the system controller to enable or inhibit the
power supply. You can use signals LED1 and LED2 to drive a bicolor LED
in the power switch, but you also can use these signals to carry another
digital signal.
Figure 8 shows the J26 connector location. Refer to Table 3 for the pin
descriptions.

Probably used by the chassis power button, but worth a deeper look. Maybe someone from NI can give a hint.

[X.]

Hi Barron, that's not exactly what I had in mind (for synchronization purposes, I would have preferred something with RTSI bus connection), but in retrospect I probably don't need more than a few 10 ms resolution, which the USB device should deliver. Thanks for the suggestion.

Henrik, thanks for looking up this info on the 1062Q (I had the 1062Q manual but it does not go in as much detail as the refrence you pulled up). However the J26 connector is internal and already connected to the front power switch LED, as you suspected. I'd rather not take this apart and drill a hole in my chassis to get a BNS out...

Thanks,

X.

[The_Red_Barron]

Henrik,

While I can't officially condone hacking into the hardware like that, I do appreciate the creativity!

[X.]

The USB-6501 is a nice little device and does just what I needed.