Which pins are Analog Out on a PCI-6281 with SCXI-1302 Terminal Block?

[OKors]

Using Signal Express I'm trying to generate a +/- 10v sinewave though a PCI-6281 DAQ card, SCXI-1000 chassis, SCXI-1180 Feedthrough adapter and finally 1302 Terminal Block (50-pin block).

I can control and view the signal within software but I am unable to register any voltage at the terminal block pins. Right now I'm using a multimeter across AO0 and AOGND to verify the signal is present but so far nothing. According to all the documentation I've come across (including this pinout), the two analog out channels are on pins 20-21 (AO0-AO1 respectively) with AOGND on pin 23.

The only thing I have populating this terminal block are 7 Analog-In channels connected in differential mode.

Am I missing something? Why can't I see any voltage coming from the AO channels?

[Aaron O]

I've taken a look at your pinouts and found that the document you were looking at was for an E-series card but had the right pinouts for your M-series PCI-6281. For future reference, this article is probably better for looking up information about connecting your devices' pins: http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/F27DD615660EB26786256F200046D2EB?OpenDocument

Is it possible for you to check and see if you can see signal at the output of the 6281 without the connector block?

Aaron

[OKors]

Thanks for the reply (and the link).

I spoke with an Applications Engineer yesterday and we were able to confirm that the terminal block pins (20, 21, 23) are the correct outputs for the Analog channels. We were able to verify this by outputting a signal in MAX and checking the terminal block pins with a multimeter.

Here's the latest development however (and most likely the cause of my original confusion).

I ONLY get an output on AO1.

If I select the AO0 channel in MAX I get nothing at pins 20 and 23 (AO0 & AOGND), when I change the channel in MAX to AO1 I see an output on 21 and 23. If I change it BACK to AO0 I still see no signal at pin 20 but the signal at AO1 remains on pin 21 and it retains the value last entered for that channel regardless any change in value while channel AO0 is selected in MAX.

If everything were working as it should I do not know if this value retention is normal so for now I'll ignore it. Point of the matter is, I have an output to AO1 and not AO0.

Hardware related? Maybe? Now get this; I have an identical system set up in another area of the lab. When I check the outputs on this terminal block I get no output on either channel with reference to AOGND (pin 23). I do however get a signal when I ground the multimeter to the ground screw on the terminal block.

That's as far as I got yesterday but now I'm thoroughly confused.

As I mentioned in the first post, the only pins I'm using are the AI pins on the terminal block (in differential mode).

I will try and test the outputs without the terminal block today (as soon as I find the pinouts for the front of the feedthrough panel).