IMAQ 1424 Timmng Diagrams for VENABLE, HENABLE, and PIXCLK

[Grant Senn]

I have the IMAQ 1424 and a non NI supported camera. I contacted an NI engineer who generated an *.ICD file for said camera. I took that *.ICD and added it to the \data dir. Via the MAX software selected that *.ICD. Next via MAX I tried the SNAP and GRAB. I got a DMA timeout error for GRAB and a timeout error for SNAP. I tried different values for �FrameTimeout ()� within the *.ICD (ie the DMA timeout setting) and it had no effect. That is to say I can set it to FrameTimeout (1) or FrameTimeout (100000) and it will still generate a DMA timeout error in GRAB and timeout in SNAP. Therefore, Im starting to suspect that our camera outputs do not conform to what the IMAQ 1424 expects to see. I can only susp
ect because the IMAQ 1424 card does not provide ANY SORT OF TIMMING DIAGRAMS with regards to it�s inputs. Thus I need to know what it expects, ie setup times, signal types, etc for VENABLE, HENABLE, and PIXEL CLOCK to see if our camera outputs meet the IMAQ 1424 req�s.

Grant C. Senn
TRW MTS on THEL
grant.senn@trw.com
grantsenn@yahoo.com

[KenSun]

Hi Grant,

Please contact National Instruments Technical Support for this information. (512) 795-8248.

We will be glad to answer these questions for you.

Thanks,
Ken Sun
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

[Grant Senn]

Hey Ken.

That is good news, the thing I really could use is some timming diagrams, because like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, add to that the fact that words can get missunderstood and you will know why I crave a timming diagram of the inputs for the IMAQ 1424. Normally I would give it a try, but I have wasted so much time allready that I really dont have any time left to try and generate a timming diagram from 100+ phone calls to 100+ different NI support personal. Thanks!

Grant C. Senn
TRW MTS on THELL
grantsenn@yahoo.com
grant.senn@trw.com

[KenSun]

Grant,

I understand your frustration with this and I really wish I could make this easier. However, National Instruments has decided that we only want to provide support for supported and tested digital cameras, this is why we don't provide this kind of information to our end users. Ideally, we do all the testing beforehand, so what we provide to our customers is a working and tested camera configuration file.

We are not positioned to sell boards to non-supported cameras because we wouldn't be able to provide quality support. However, I understand that there are still customers out there who want to use our boards with a non-supported camera, so we want to do our best to help the customer through any problems. I want to help out but I cannot di
sclose this information over the exchange forum either, because it will just cause more confusion.

Thanks for your patience on this issue.

Ken Sun
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

[Grant Senn]

I understand your frustration with this and >>I really wish I could make this
>>easier.

Thanks, at least you feel my pain! 😉

>>However, National Instruments has
>>decided that we only want to provide
>>support for supported and tested
>>digital cameras

WOW? When did NI decide that? Tell them they need to update thier link, ie:

http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?lang=US&pc=mn&cid=1299

Where it says on one of the bullets "Compatible with..." to "ONLY Compatible with..." or "ONLY SUPPORTED with..." Because had I know that up front I would not have selected this card.

>>We are not positioned to sell boards
>>to non-supported cameras because we
>>couldn't be able to provide quality
>>support

WOW! They really need to up-date that link!!

>>However, I understand that there are
>>still customers out there who want to
>>use our boards with a non-supported
>>camera

Well, they, like me probally read the bullet and didnt realise that "Compatible" ment you couldnt get any info on the IMAQ 1424 card inputs.

>>so we want to do our best to help
>>the customer through any problems.
>>I want to help out but I cannot
>>disclose this information over the
>>exchange forum either, because it
>>will just cause more confusion

Well, thanks Ken, I think I understand the positioin your in, is there anyone at that phone number that you can recomend... ie a real pro with the IMAQ 1424 card? Because I need some help. Please dont take this reply personal, Im just very suprised, in that I have bought alot of NI product for projects at TRW. This is my 1st IMAGE CARD project, and Im just suprised at the lack of info I can get on the card itself (ie minus the cameras). As a mater of fact, one of the guys was pushing me to buy a MATROX card, but I told him no, because of my past experance with NI products. I hope you have someone I can talk to, or even you... I did have a talk with Andy Bell, he was very helpful!! VERY!! Mater of fact if not for him I wouldnt have realised that our camera outputs (VSYNC, HSYNC) do not match the 1424s expect inputs of VSYNC HSYNC. Anyway, Im startig to ramble, can you sugest someone for me to call? I need someone who can verbally give me a timming diagram.. Thanks!

Grant C. Senn
TRW MTS on THEL
grantsenn@yahoo.com
grant.senn@trw.com

[KenSun]

Grant,

I'll be contacting you soon.

Thanks again for your patience.
Ken