Upgrade path from a LAB-PC-1200 card running Labview 5.0?

[LeonardB4]

We're upgrading an old NT Labview 5 box to something newer and are trying to plan out what to do for hardware and are looking to go to the latest version of Labview. We have the imaq, gpib, and daq cards to handle. I think I know which way to go with the GPIB and IMAQ but was looking for some advice on the LAB-PC-1200 card. I see that theres a PCI-1200 card that carries the same 50-pin connector so that looks easy. Is there a PCI-Express upgrade option that we could do instead? I see people talking about a PCI-e 6321, but that it doesn't have the same 50-pin connector. Anyone have some advice on the best route to go to bring this system up to date for that card?

Thanks!

[Kevin_Price]

You'll probably need to plan to redo some of your cabling as well.  The PCIe-6321 is likely a fine upgrade, but it will have a 68-pin connector as do almost all MIO boards.

Be aware that you'll need to rewrite the program to use DAQmx rather than the traditional NI-DAQ driver that the Lab-PC-1200 used.

-Kevin P

[LeonardB4]

That's kind of the direction we're look at now, system is one of those things thats been running for 20+ years so very few people know anything about it so the cabling may be an issue. If we went the PCI-1200 route would we still need to re-write things to use the DAQmx driver or is the PCI-1200 still using the NI-DAQ driver like the LAB-PC card was?

[Kevin_Price]

As far as I can tell, the PCI-1200 is also long obsolete and no longer available for purchase.  Even if you have a way to get one, I think it'd be a pretty bad idea to base your "upgrade" around that device.

I would fully expect you to run into similar obsolescence issues with whatever imaging code and hardware was part of your original system.

You probably aren't going to be able to band-aid your way forward into the future.  This sounds more like a complete replacement kind of project, new equipment, new wiring, new code.  Right now while the old system still functions, do some detailed analysis of its functional behavior, try to capture its I/O signals, etc.  You've pretty much *got* to start by developing a more thorough understanding of this black box you're looking to change.

-Kevin P