Should I use LabVIEW to control an Old Tape Drive

[nlthomas]

"I am trying to find an easy way of controlling an old military tape drive. It does not have a standard interface. I was hopeing that I would be able to use a DAQ card to control the drive. Are there functions in LabVIEW that will allow me to handshake with the drive? I will need 16 inputs, 16 outputs, and 8 Bidirectional lines on the card. Which DAQ card would you recommend? Would this be easier with NI Measurement Studio? How would you recommend to accomplish this in either software package?"

[Dennis_Knutson]

Is this a digital interface? What kind of rates are required? NI makes the 653X - High-Speed 32-bit Digital Pattern I/I and Handshaking board. There's also the 650X series. These are static digital I/O with handshaking. After you get more details on the tape drive interface, you might want to contact NI directly to discuss your requirements. As far as LabVIEW versus Measurment Studio, if you use NI hardware, the same functions are available in both packages so it comes down to what you prefer. If you're an experienced LabVIEW programmer, there's no reason to switch. If you're an experienced C/C++/VB programmer, go with Measurement Studio. Imho, inexperienced programmers have a shorter learning curve with LabVIEW.