How to connect external trigger PCIe-1433?

[tuckturn]

I am having an issue getting the external trigger to work using a cameralink camera, a PCIe-1433 card and a signal generator.  The signal generator is connected to the SMB connector on the 1433 card and is providing a 20 Hz signal with a 20ms pulse width at TTL voltages (0-4V).  From memory, we are using the MAX software and under the Acquisition tab I have CC1 set to external, however the camera is not receiving this external trigger.

I've attached a rough diagram of our setup.

What could my issues be?  My thoughts are:

1) Are there other settings in MAX I need to ensure?  I know the SMB connector can be an input or an output.  How can I make sure this is set to input?

2) My input signal is 0-4V which is TTL, but does the signal need to be 0-5V?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[Greg_S-Video]

Hello tuckturn

Thank you very much for getting in touch with us. 

1)  In Measurement and Automation Explorer, the default is an input.  You would need to use LabVIEW to change the SMB connector to be an output. Can you please show me a screenshot of your camera attributes in Measurement and Automation Explorer.

2)  Where does this input signal come from?  Do you have a 5V TTL compliant output to test this?  Can you please provide me the specification for whatever device is outputting the voltage?

Thanks again.

[tuckturn]

HI Greg, thanks for the reply.

1) Good to know the default of the SMB is an input.  I will get screen captures of our MAX setup and post them tomorrow.

2) The TTL signal generator we are using is: http://www.thinksrs.com/products/DG535.htm

  - from the website, it says "Output Levels TTL: 0 to 4 VDC (normal or inverted)" So weare not getting a 0-5 V swing as maybe required.

Thank you.

[TheBeat]

Could you provide instruction how to use LabVIEW to change the SMB connector to be an output? Same problem here.

Thanks.

[dstrandb]

Hi TheBeat,

You can control the SMB line in LabVIEW by using the IMAQ Trigger VIs and referencing trigger line 0. Take a look at some of the examples that ship with LabVIEW. These should help you get started using the Trigger VIs.

[aoslo]

Hello,

I'm very new in the field of image acquisition through a frame grabber.  Could you explain why the SMB has to be an output?  I'm trying to send a trigger signal (a pulse generated by a Data Translation device) to a PCIe-1433 via SMB. Shouldn't the SMB be an input?

In fact, I need to send 2  signals to trigger a linescan camera, one line trigger and one frame trigger.  I'm given a NI USB-6211 device, and I dont' know how to connect it to the PCIe-1433 since there is only one SMB on the board.

Please help.  Thanks much.

[BoKnows]

aoslo,

It's usually more beneficial to create a new thread rather than bump and old thread.  The question you have isn't the same question and it appears some of the prior conversation has confused the conversation a bit.

Why does the SMB have to be an output?  It doesn't.  Greg stated "the default is an input." and suggested you would have to configure it to be an output.  In this, he didn't mean you have to configure it to be an output to use it as a trigger.  He was responding to the original poster asking how they would know if it was an input/output.  If they hadn't messed with it, it would have to be an input.  The only way it would be an output is if they specifically changed it. 

The root problem you're running into here is you want to use two triggers for something I'm not entirely sure I understand.  Why do you need two triggers?  Do you want the frame to send a group of triggers to take each line and build a frame with them?  You could do this just as easily by creating a pulse train with the 6211 and sending it as a line trigger.  I'd need to have a better idea of what you're trying to do to give you more focused advice.  For any of this, it would make more sense to continue this conversation in a new thread related specifically to your application rather than continuing to mix the conversation here.

[aoslo]

Hello Jeff, I followed your suggestion and  started a new thread.  If you could provide your insight there, I'd greatly appreciate it.  Thanks.

http://forums.ni.com/t5/Digital-I-O/How-to-sync-a-linescan-camera-to-both-a-line-and-a-frame-trigger...

[timers]

Hi,

The links to examples are not there anymore. I still have the same question of how to change the SMB connector from input (default) to output. Also, is it possible to change it without using Labview? Or, after changing it with Labview, will it stay as an output when using other frame grabbing software?

Thanks,

[j_bou]

Hello Timers, 

What links are you referring to? 

I would highly recommend that you ask your question in a new forum post. This will ensure that you have a dedicated page for your specific questions and will allow the NI Community to better assist you.

Best Regards,

j_bou