Can the NI 9263 be used as an excitation source?

[OKors]

I'm wondering how stable the 9263 is when used to output a 10v DC signal.
I'd like to use the 9263 to provide excitation to a sensor and use a 9215 (or similar) AI module as the input card and apply a custom scale.

I'm using Signal Express and would create and generate the 10Vdc signal in software but need to know if the output would be precision and stable enough to take accurate measurements.

[Eric_NI]

Hello OKors, thanks for posting your question; the output of a signal set in the NI 9263 will be actually depending on the program itself, however assuming that the program is set properly to output a DC value there should be no inconveniences having that signal stable at your desired level with the consideration of the accuracy for you module (in your case the accuracy of the NI 9263 of 110mV taken from the NI 9263 Specs)

Eric NI

[OKors]

I'm using Signal Express to Generate/Acquire my signals. Currently my step setup is as follows:

Create Analog Signal

DAQmx Generate Signal
DAQmx Acquire Signal

In the Create Analog Signal properties I have selected Signal Type= DC. Offset= 10v. Sample Rate and Block Size are default
For the Generate Signal step I have the corresponding channel of the NI 9263 Selected, with Min/Max input range of 0/10
For Acquire I'm just acquiring a straight Voltage signal which I have fed back through to the NI 9215.
I then use a custom (slope) scale to scale the voltage to inches.

The signal is good and I can verify the displacement with an external measuring device.

Again the concern is whether or not my excitation signal is stable and reliable.

The sensor will output roughly 10v at full scale which is the applied excitation value.

[Tunde_S]

Hi OKors,

The stability characteristics for the NI 9263 can be found on page 14 of the NI 9263 Operating Instructions and Specifications manual. An explanation of these parameters can be found in the Data Acquisition Specifications – a Glossary. I believe Eric provided an answer to the accuracy of your device. However, if you are trying to determine the precision of the device, you will need stability characteristics, which is defined on page 14 of the Specifications document.