External Calibration PCI-6110

[esa_paranoid]

Hi, I am trying to write a small program for Verifying, Self Calibration, and External Calibration for PCI-6110/6111 cards.

I have completed the first two; however I am getting hung up on EXTERNAL CALIBRATION.

I am following the attached PDF.  The main issue I am having is "Calling" Get_Cal_Date and Copy_Const - which are supposedly included in niECal.dll

I installed ni611xCa but I have no idea how to "Call" these functions.  Can someone help me with external calibration?  Or is there a way to do this using DAQmx (I see the external calibration vi's) ???

Thanks for the help!

[esa_paranoid]

Attached is what I have so far...can I get some feedback/suggestions on how to improve this thing?

I have not had a chance to try the EXTERNAL portion of the program...can anyone tell me if I coded this correctly?

Message Edited by esa_paranoid on 03-07-2006 03:44 PM

[esa_paranoid]

Ok...I tried it out today with a calibrator.

The Verify Tab works, the Self Calibration Tab works, some problems with the EXTERNAL CALIBRATION tab.

I get Error Code -200546 which is telling me that either my reference voltage is bouncing, or I have noise.

I checked the reference voltage and it seems to be rock solid...

I then graphed the 10000 points collected during the calibration and it seems that I bounce between 7.4997 and 7.5003 (roughly...its less than that).

How much can this signal bounce during the external DAQmx task?  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this/work around it?  I unhooked all external connetions during this, I tried connecting AI GND to the negative terminal (and I tried without doing that), all produced teh same results.

I am using a PCI-6110 to a SH68-68-EP (2m) to a BNC-2110.  I am on LabVIEW 7.1

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Ryan

[esa_paranoid]

Ok...I have this basicaly to where I want it. 

Does anyone know how to create a "progress meter" for while the card is calibrating???

Calibration takes between 5 and 10 minutes...I have a feeling someone may think teh computer locked up.  So I would like a status meter.

Can anyone help me out?

[Hal_L]

Hi Ryan,

This is an interesting error that you are receiving here. There are  a couple of things that I would like you to do:

- try running your code with a different reference voltage and see if you run into the same problem

- run the DAQ Diagnostic Utility just to verify that nothing is wrong with your board

Also, there is a new manual with specific information about calibrating S series devices in DAQmx: E/S/M/B Series Calibration Procedure for NI-DAQmx. I recommend taking a look at it if you haven't already. Please keep me posted with your progress on this.

Regards,
Hal L.

[esa_paranoid]

hi, yes I found that DAQmx article yesterday and implemented it.  Works great.  The last VI I posted works perfect - the problem I was having was that I did not connect to ai0 but rather ai1 (even though teh article clearly says ai0...im dumb).

Anyway, works good for calibrating.  Any ideas on my last comment on a "progress meter" ?

[CSV]

Hi, I am attempting the same using Delphi7, that is writing a calibration procedure for NI 6110 and NI 6115. I prefer the traditional DAQ functions. Does anyone have a copy of the NIECal.DLL. I have difficulty getting one from NI.

Cheers

[TechnicalServices]

Hi, I am calibrating a SXCI 1102 with calibration executive version 3.3.1 using a PCI 6030E daq device, a fluke 5700A calibrator and a agilent 34401A DMM. The 1102 is new just out of the box and a few days ago other 1102's were calibrated successfully with the same setup. All equipment used for this calibration just got back from getting calibrated themselves. During the calibration a few channels fail calibration on the 1102 so I suppress alerts for the test and it them finishes the verification them proceeds to the adjustment phase. During the adjustment phase I get the following error message:

Error-200546 occured at DAQ MX close external calibration .vi at step adjust:1

physical channel name: SC1Mod2/ai0

Possible reason(s):

Measurements: External calibration failed, and the external calibration data has not been changed.

Make sure that the reference signal used for the calibration is stable and that the voltage mataches the value specified to the calibration software. Disconnect the device from any external signals that might introduce noise.

Any thoughts?

[CSV]

Hi Titan666

Yes, I experiences the same problem, especially with M Devices. It is more than likely an electronic noise problem. Ensure you use low noise, well grounded, gaurded signals from the DC reference. You might have to experiment a bit. I  had to use different connections for the NI 6110 and my NI M device.

CSV