Chapter 7 Counters
© National Instruments Corporation 7-9 NI 6124/6154 User Manual
For information about connecting counter signals, refer to the Default
Counter/Timer Pinouts section.
Frequency Measurement
You can use the counters to measure frequency in several different ways.
You can choose one of the following methods depending on your
application:
•Method 1: Measure Low Frequency with OneCounter—In this
method, you measure one period of your signal using a known
timebase. This method is good for low frequency signals.
You can route the signal to measure (F1) to the Gate of a counter. You
can route a known timebase (Ft) to the Source of the counter. The
known timebase can be 80MHzTimebase. For signals that might be
slower than 0.02Hz, use a slower known timebase.
You can configure the counter to measure one period of the gate signal.
The frequency of F1 is the inverse of the period. Figure7-10 illustrates
this method.
Figure 7-10. Method 1
•Method 1b: Measure Low Frequency with OneCounter
(Averaged)—In this method, you measure several periods of your
signal using a known timebase. This method is good for low to medium
frequency signals.
You can route the signal to measure (F1) to the Gate of a counter. You
can route a known timebase (Ft) to the Source of the counter. The
known timebase can be 80MHzTimebase. For signals that might be
slower than 0.02Hz, use a slower known timebase.
F1
Ft
F1
Ft
Gate
Source
123…N
Single Period
Measurement
…
Period of F1 = N
Ft
Frequency of F1 = N
Ft
Interval Measured