Digital Input using the NI PCI-6036E

[The New-Guy]

I am using the NI PCI-6036E.  I want to read a CMOS square wave pulse train from a Optical Encoder.

The # of pulses per second will vary from 100 to 10k.  I have a "break-out" card (68 pin to 50 pin) to a

terminal block.  The E Series MIO Board signal names that I think I should feed the signal into is DIO0

through DIO7 (using just one).  Is this correct?

I must measure the changing pulse width for a conversion to RPM.  Any suggestions?

[Dennis_Knutson]

Don't use the digital I/O. I'm pretty sure that this is static and there would be no way to determine the pulse width. Instead, use the counter input for the best accuracy. Using one of analog inputs would even work but that would be slower since you would have to determine the pulse width in software.

[The New-Guy]

Hello Dennis and thank you for the reply.  I'm new at counters.

Is the Counter setup much like Analog Input or Analog Output?  Can I take the pulse input directly on the 6036E connector breakout

or should I, must I, go through isolation in the SCXI Chassis?  On the 6036E breakout, what is the name of such a counter?

For instance, there look like 2 input counters I can use->  PFI8/GPCTR0_Source, PFI9/GPCTR_0 Gate and PFI3/GPCTR1_Source, PFI4/GPCTR_1 Gate.  Sounds like a FET strategy, though the scheme eludes me.

Maybe my input pulse train is the Gate.  I'd assume the Source is supplied by the 6036E or must I wire it?  Is this whole idea wrong?

[Dennis_Knutson]

There are a couple of places that you should look for basic information on using counters. If you are using LabVIEW, go to Help>Search the LabVIEW Bookshelf and then open the LabVIEW Measurements Manual. Explanation of what the source and gate inputs are is in there. There are tutorials and example code at the NI Developer Zone at http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/main. There are also shipping examples with whatever development language you are using (LabVIEW or CVI for example).