How to synchronize timestamp between NI wireless daq and counter

[kid_26]

Hi all,

Currently I have two NI devices, one is Wireless DAQ NI 9215 and counter PCI 6601. As for my project, the wireless DAQ will collect three signals and the counter will acquire one signal. The wireless DAQ will be located some distance away (around 25m). The four signals are captured by a PC equipped with LabView.

My question is: How do we synchronize the timestamp between the three signals coming from the wireless DAQ and one signal from the counter? Is there a way to achieve this? Thank you for the reply.

[jhsdelallana]

Hi kid_26,

How important is synchronization to your project? And how much latency is acceptable for your measurements?

There should be no problem in synchronizing the measurement of the three channels at your Wireless DAQ since they are using the same clock. Doing this with your counter at the PCI DAQ is another issue. The main problem would be the inherent latency existing with Wireless Communication. And unfortunately, current developments still is not at par with the required standard. This is the reason that for applications requiring synchronized measurements, wired DAQ is heavily recommended with either the clock or the trigger connecting all devices. Ofcourse, you could still wire a trigger line from you PCI to your wDAQ, but this would beat the purpose of using Wireless DAQ altogether.

Best Regards,

Joshua de la Llana

Applications Engineer

NI ASEAN

[kid_26]

Hi Joshua,

Thanks for your feedback. From your reply, I assume that there is no feasible solution for timestamp synchronization, am I right?

If there isn't, may I know what is the most workable approach in this case beside wiring the counter and the wireless DAQ? Since this will defeat the purpose of using wireless DAQ like you mentioned. Thanks.

[jhsdelallana]

Hi kid_26,

Can you provide me a description of the application or project you want to develop? Emphasis on the importance of synchronization would be very helpful.

For starters, you might find this forum discussion informative and useful; for your reference

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=348235&requireLogin=False

Best Regards,

Joshua de la Llana

Applications Engineer

NI ASEAN