Count Events buffered with 6210

[Eyal_S.]

Hi all,

I just recently posted a question about timestamping:

 http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=365874#M365874

After a lot of reading I realize that maybe I need to buy a new card as suggested here: http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=40&message.id=4734&query.id=11657#M4734

I was wondering what would be the fastest clock I can use for continoues event counting using the USB 6210 (or any other Bus Powered M Series devices).  

Did anyone try to use this card for period measurements with 1 counter when the signal is random? I want to make sure this card can be used with an APD (which sometimes gives a high frequency burst of pulses) before I make a purchase.

Thanks,

Eyal 

[Dan_K]

Hello Eyal,

The USB-6210 can count at up to 80 MHz, which is determined by the rate of the fastest internal base clock of the device.  Information about National Instruments devices can easily be found through the product pages, the specifications tab gives general information about the device that can be useful in comparing between different devices, while the detailed specifications and the data sheet (links under the specifications tab) give more detailed information.

The USB-6210 product page details the Maximum Source Frequency at 80 MHz.

As for using only 1 counter on this device for period measurements, as long as the signal is low frequency this should be fine.  But, if you are expecting the signal to vary in frequency, it may be a better idea to use 2 counters.  For more information on period measurement with a counter check out Developer Zone Tutorial: Period Measurement with a Counter