4.0 ANALOG CONNECTIONS
4.1 ANALOG INPUTS
Analog signal connection is one of the most challenging aspects of applying a data acquisition board. If you are an Analog Electrical Engineer, this section is not for you, but if you are like most PC data acquisition users, the best way to connect your analog inputs may not be obvious. Though complete coverage of this topic is well beyond the scope of this manual, the following section provides some explanations and helpful hints regarding these analog input connections. This section is designed to help you achieve the optimum performance from your PCI-DAS1200 series board.
Prior to jumping into actual connection schemes, you should have at least a basic understanding of single-ended/differential inputs and system grounding/isolation. If you are already comfortable with these concepts, you may wish to skip to the next section (on wiring configurations).
4.1.1 Single-Ended and Differential Inputs
The PCI-DAS1200 provides either 8 differential or 16 single-ended input channels. The concepts of single-ended and differential inputs are discussed in the following section.
Single-Ended Inputs
A single-ended input measures the voltage between the input signal and ground. In this case, in single-ended mode the PCI-DAS1200 measures the voltage between the input channel and low level ground (LLGND). The single- ended input configuration requires only one physical connection (wire) per channel and allows the PCI-DAS1200 to monitor more channels than the (2-wire) differential configuration using the same connector and onboard multiplexor. However, because the PCI-DAS1200 is measuring the input voltage relative to its own low level ground, single-ended inputs are more susceptible to both EMI (electromagnetic interference) and any ground noise at the signal source. The following diagrams show the single-ended input configuration.