How and where do I input a SCXI channel string to get raw data from a sensor?

[Wendy 775]

Rather than retrieving values from a virtual channel, I need to get actual raw data from the sensor. I know I need to input the channel string "ob0!sc1!md2!25" but I don't know how or where to input it. I already have an array set up with 5 virtual channels, so how do I add this channel string to it, to extract raw data from the channel itself? Thanks in advance!

[John N]

Hi Wendy,

It turns out that there are two answers to your question. Anywhere that you have an input that you can use a virtual channel, you can use a channel string like the one you mentioned.

However the second part is that you need to use either virtual channels or normal channel strings, but not both. Here is a link about this.

There is a solution that should work for you though. You can make two virtual channels. One is a specific sensor channel (e.g. thermocouple) and the other is a plain voltage channel. With this pair, you can get both converted and raw data.

For most boards, this solution should even extend to using a converted
channel and a voltage channel on the same actual channel in a single scan list. Thus you would get both your raw and scaled readings in the same scan (though the readings would not be taken at exactly the same time).

Another solution is that if you want to get raw voltage data, you can do that with a voltage virtual channel (with no scaling). Then you could scale it with one of the many VI's for different sensors.

Hope this helps Wendy.

Regards,

John N
Applications Engineer
National Instruments