How can I use the CTRL 0..3 lines of the 1409 frame grabber

[Hellwing]

How can I use the CTRL 0..3 lines of the 1409 frame grabber? (LabView)

[Brent_R]

The CTRL lines on the 1409 (or the 142x) are not accessible through the IMAQ API (ie. the LabVIEW VIs). You can use the control lines through the property page in MAX to output various pulse trains on these lines. If you need programmatic control over digital IO with this card, you can use the the TRIG 0..3 lines instead with the Signal I/O VIs in the IMAQ pallette.

Regards,

Brent R.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[JeffG]

>The CTRL lines on the 1409 (or the 142x) are not accessible through the IMAQ API (ie. the LabVIEW VIs).

Why not? After all, the spec sheet says that the 1409 offers 8 digital lines (4 trigger + 4 dig. output) and says that LabView is recommended software to run the board.

[Kyle_V]

From my experience, the control lines are only used to control camera parameters, like exposure time. These parameters only need to be set once during configuration and usually don't need to be changed from LabVIEW.

Do you need more than 4 trigger lines on your 1409? What kind of camera are you using?

Kyle V

[JeffG]

Thanks for your response. We need more than four digital outputs to control shutters in our optical system. These are separate shutter units, not part of our cameras (which do not require any control lines). The authors of the PCI-1409 spec sheet seems to have anticipated this sort of use:

"In addition, each NI 1409 includes four digital output lines for lighting, shutter, camera control, and
pulse generation."

But how can one generate pulses, operate lighting, etc., if NI-IMAQ does not allow programmatic control of these lines?

[LukasM]

> If you need programmatic control over digital IO with this card, you can use the the TRIG 0..3 lines instead with the Signal I/O VIs in the IMAQ pallette.

The problem is that TRIG 0..3 is TTL only and my camera (LC3021PGN from Perkin Elmer) needs RS-422 inputs.

BTW: If I set choice Signal Level (Operating Mode in MAX 3.1.1.) to the value Differential, are all signals (CTRL 0..3, HSYNCIN, VSYNCIN, CSYNCIN, PCKLIN, PCLKOUT) receiving/transmitting RS-422 mode? If not, please send me which of them

Looking forward the answer

Best regards

Lukas

[LukasM]

> You can use the control lines through the property page in MAX to output various pulse trains on these lines.

I hope the "Property page" was in NI-IMAQ 2.x.x and now in MAX 3.x.x are these options available from the general/main page in the bottom.

I was able to set just CTRL(0) by the parameter External Line Sync. Is there any tutorial how to set the CTRL output lines by MAX with examples of use? I have found just following link with no examples:
http://zone.ni.com/devzone%5Cconceptd.nsf/webmain/E0B9712BB1F4D8E286256A390066A3FB 

Thank you for any answer

Lukas

[MarcoPolo5]

The 4 trigger lines can be controlled with the NI-IMAQ API using the IMAQ Trigger Drive.vi (for LabVIEW). The 4 control lines are not accessible with the NI-IMAQ API - they programmed through camera configuration files and are for generating internal timing pulses and also for specific cameras requiring external control.

If you need some additional I/O lines, perhaps the PCI-6503 will meet your needs. It is a basic TTL Static I/O interface.

[MarcoPolo5]

The trigger lines will only be TTL on the 1409 - however, the control lines can be set to either TTL or differential. Selecting differential in 'Operating Mode' tab of the 1409 configuration page in Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX) will change all the control lines to differential. The control lines are set in the camera configuration file and usually have minimal configuration from MAX. Control lines are meant for internal timing pulses and specific cameras that need external control lines for acquisition.

I hope that answers your questions - good luck with your project!

[LukasM]

Hello Marc,

Thank you for your answers

Is there any example how to change camera configuration file (properly) or any documentation avialable to avoid experimentation.

I have looked in my Linescan(1409).icd and I hope the CTLR0..3 is set by lines:
ControlLinesSource {
UseDefaultSource (Yes)
CCSourceLine0 (None, 0)
CCSourceLine1 (None, 1)
CCSourceLine2 (None, 2)
CCSourceLine3 (None, 3)
}

But I really do not know what to supply instead of None.

Thanks for any answer