DAQ board recommendation

[APG]

Greetings,
I would like to use Labview to control an MKS Instruments 247D control box, which in turn controls four mass flow contollers. The 247D has a 25 pin port on it for this purpose, the pin out diagram can be found here:
http://www.mksinst.com/pin247d.html

and the relevant product data sheet here:
http://www.mksinst.com/pdf/mfcontlr.pdf

It looks as though I need four 0-5V analog outputs (for the setpoint inputs), four TTL outputs (for the flow on/off inputs) and four 0-5V analog inupts for the transducer output. Could you recommend a product (presumably a DAQ board) that is well suited to this application? I should mention, I'm fairly well versed in (and a big fan of)labview, but have limited experience with DAQ boards and the like. Also, I would ideally like a USB device so that I can easily control my system from my laptop. Thanks for any advice you are able to offer.
-Adrian

[George M.]

Hi,

Ok, you are going to be limited by the fact that you want 4 analog outputs. The only boards that have analog inputs, digital, and 4 analog outputs are the brand new M Series Boards. The most analog outputs that you can get from a USB DAQ device is 2. So, the way I see it is that you can either by 2 of the USB Devices or find a way to use a PCI card.

I hope this helps. Have a Great Day!

-George M.

[JaredA]

As George stated, the best thing that National Insturments has to offer you to satisfy your requirements are the new M Series and USB devices. I thought I'd give you the exact recommendations on what you'll need.

If you're set on using USB, then go with the NI USB-6015. If you think you might need additional digital I/O in the future, the USB-6016 might be a better suit. With either the 6015 or 6016, you would need to get two devices.

If you're not set on the USB bus, then a single M Series device can easily get the job done and leave you with plenty to spare. The three devices that you could consider are the 18-bit, 625 kS/s, PCI-6289, 16-bit, 1.25 MS/s, PCI-6259, and 16-bit, 250 kS/s, PCI-6229. Each of the devices have the same line-up of I/O - 32 AI, 4 AO, 48 DIO, 2 CTR - but they all have different specifications and features.

What you should do is figure out what specifications are the most important to you and begin narrowing your choices based on those. If USB is the most important, then M Series won't cut it. If, however, you're not tied to the USB bus, then what's the next most important. Generally, one of the most important specification is accuracy.

Jared Aho
DAQ Product Engineer