Is it possible to buy "cheap" DAQ equipment for personal use?

[RomainB]

Hello,

You also have the Labjack possibility: http://labjack.com/

R

[Richard2950]

I recently used an 8-channel Digital I/O module with USB interface for $19.95 from http://www.numato.com . My son needed it for an art project that had to be done on a student's budget. This was the least expensive board that I found and I was also sure that it would be easy to program with LabVIEW because It uses serial communication through a virtual com port and doesn't need any special drivers beyond that.

Richard

[JohnCS]

You may be interested in the Arduino. It is an open source system based on Atmega328. The micro costs around $30 depending on the configuration. There are many manufacturers of this board and lots of European vendors. There are many communications options and other accessories useful for home automation. Arduino apps are C/C++ based and compiled with the open-source compiler avr-gcc and linked against the open-source AVR Libc. which is a free compiler. There is a LabVIEW toolkit in the works as well.

Check out:

http://arduino.cc/en/

http://www.adafruit.com/

http://www.sparkfun.com/

JohnCS

[altenbach]

A bit early, but the just announce android@home platform might offer cheap hardware interfaces to the real world.

I guess the system will be open enough that LabVIEW can interface with them. 😄 Let's wait and see. 😄

[EvenDeejay]

Thanks for the tips Not I got many options to choose from!

[wond3rboy]

Hi, if you are up for using PIC and serial communication, i can help you on the micro too. The arduino option is really good aswell(keeps it plain and simple).

[Coq_Rouge]

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@wond3rboy wrote:

Hi, if you are up for using PIC and serial communication, I can help you on the micro too. The arduino option is really good aswell(keeps it plain and simple).

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I think it is better to use somewhat more money. And then then get a proper MCU programmer with HW debugging options. The Arduino is a boot-loader system. So if your Arduino chip is broken. You need to order a new chip with the boot-loader. I use a Microchip and a PICKIT programmer. If my chip get broken I can get a new one at several places. And the replacement chip may be an equivalent chip. I am free to chose 

[RTSLVU]

Nobody mentioned Measurement Computing

USB-based DAQ module with eight 12-bit analog inputs, 1.2 kS/s, two analog outputs, and 16 digital I/O lines for $129

USB1208-LS

I have used these in several applications

MCC devices Labview support

[MikeL3558]

Not to hijack any thread, but I have a use for the DAQ516 cards if you still have them. I use them for old camera calibration jigs. Please reply if you would like to discuss.

Thanks!

[robertpf]

Hi MikeL3558,

The DAQ-516 might be hard to get your hands on from NI, but I suggest contacting your local NI office to discuss other options.

Best regards,