National Instruments NI PCI-5911 Introduction

Introduction

Thank you for buying an NI PCI-5911 digitizer, featuring the Flex ADC for

variable speed and resolution. This chapter contains information on

installing, connecting signals to, and acquiring data from the NI 5911

Installation involves the following main steps:

1. Install the NI-SCOPE driver software. You use this driver to write

programs to control the NI 5911 in different application development

environments (ADEs). Installing NI-SCOPE also allows you to

interactively control the NI591 1 with the Scope Soft Front Panel.

2. Install the NI 5911.

For step-by-step instructions for installing both NI-SCOPE and the

NI 5911, refer to the Where to Start with Your NI Digitizer document.

For multiple-device considerations, refer to the Operating Environment

section of AppendixA, Specifications.

Figure 1-1 shows the front panel of the NI 5911. The front panel contains

three connectors—a BNC connector, an SMB connector, and a 9-pin

mini-circular DIN connector. Figure 1-2 shows the 9-pin mini-circular DIN

connector.

The BNC connector is for attaching the analog input signal you want to

measure. The BNC connector is analog input channel 0. To minimize noise,

do not allow the shell of the BNC cable to touch or lie near the metal of the

computer chassis. The SMB connector is used for external triggers and for

generating a probe compensation signal. The SMB connector is labeled

PFI1 . The DIN connector provides access to an additional external trigger

line. The DIN connector can be used to access PFI2.