cRIO and real time module

[jyang72211]

To program a cRIO, I understand that I need the FPGA module in LabVIEW.  However, I just learned that I also need the Real Time module in LabVIEW as well.  I have been using a PCI-7833R FPGA card, which only requires the FPGA module in LabVIEW.  I am considering changing to cRIO.  I only need to program in FPGA, so buying the real time module for cRIO seems unjustifiable.  If I just want to program the FPGA and use the IO on the cRIO, why do I need the real time module?  

[srm@viewpointusa.com]

the cRIO platform is a real time platform (requires LabVIEW RT).  you may want to look at the NI-9148 instead.  you only need LabVIEW FPGA.  it is treated more like the RIO platform.

[Sev_K]

If you already have an R-Series card and need the fuctionality of C-Series modules you can get the NI 9151 (R Series Expansion Chassis for C Series I/O) or upgrade to one the MXI-Express RIO Chassis, such as the NI 9154.

[jyang72211]

That's exactly what I am looking for.  Thanks!  I have a few questions.

1. if I have a NI 9263 module for 4 channels analog output, can I use each channel of the module individually with different sampling rate?  Can the channels be operated independently of each other?

2. I noticed that the name of the NI 9146 has the word expansion in it.  Does it mean I need to buy some other equipment for that to work?

3. I am trying to replace the PCI-7833R with the NI9146.  Is there a good comparison between the two?  I want to make sure that with the NI 9146, I can still do what I want.  I want to make sure I have enough resources. 

4. Where can I find out how much block memory can I allocate?  What spec correspondin to that?