More than 1 RTSI cable?

[TEP]

I would like to confirm that it is possible to use 2 RTSI cables simultaneously.  I have several signal generator boards to sync and several data acquisition boards to snyc, but I don't need the generator boards synced to the data acquisition boards.  Also, the number of boards and the required board spacing for cooling preclude using a single standard RTSI cable.  I haven't been able to find this information in the NI documents.

Thanks for any help you can provide on this.

Tom

[MickeyD]

Hi Tom,

There is no problem with using more than one RTSI cable.  I will look into where this should be documented.  THis is only ture for the case where you have described having more than one synched measurement.  Out of curiousity how have you set up all these PCI boards toghether.  It is recommended in typical PC setups to only run 3 of our measurement boards at once due to heat considerations.  I just want to make sure that the RTSI cable issue does not become a different issue later on when you are taking actual measurements.

Have a great day,

Michael D
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[TEP]

Michael:

Thanks for the help on this.  I will be using 3 PCI-5421 AWG boards, 1 PCI-6122 4-channel AI board, and 1 PCI-6123 8-channel AI board in a 13-slot Magma PCI expansion chasis.  If I leave one slot open on each side of each board, then I'll be using 11 slots.  I plan to sync the 3 PCI-5421 boards with a 5-board RTSI cable to allow an open slot between boards, and sync the PCI-6122 and the PCI-6123 with a 3-board RTSI cable to allow an open slot between boards.  Do you see any problems with this?

Tom

[TEP]

Michael - Do you see any problems with what I've proposed? - Tom

[MickeyD]

Hi Tom,

The way you are taking into consideration the space between to allow for cooling should be fine.  It is just recommended not to stack 5 PCI boards into a normal PC box.  Let me know if you have any further difficulties, but the RTSI cable will certainly work fine.  I have made a note and hopefully the RTSI documentation for the DAQmx driver will be updated soon.  Thanks for the feedback and have a great day,

Michael D
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

[TEP]

Michael - Very good, thanks for the help on this. - Tom