External Calibration - National Instruments Multifunction RIO NI R Series User Manual

Chapter 3 Calibration (NI 783xR/784xR/785xR Only)
Note
The NI 78xxR Calibration Utility does not support NI 781xR devices.

External Calibration

R Series Multifunction RIO User Manual
application. Self-calibration minimizes the effects of any offset and gain
drifts, particularly those due to changes in temperature. During the
self-calibration process, the AI and AO channels are compared to the
NI 783xR/784xR/785xR onboard voltage reference. The offset and gain
errors in the analog circuitry are calibrated out by adjusting the CalDACs
to minimize these errors.
If you have NI-RIO installed, you can find the self-calibration utility at
Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RIO»Calibrate 78xxR
Device. Device is the NI PXI-783xR/784xR/785xR or NI PCI-783xR
device.
Immediately after self-calibration, the only significant residual calibration
error is gain error due to time and temperature drift of the onboard voltage
reference. You can minimize gain errors by performing an external
calibration. If you are primarily taking relative measurements, then you can
ignore a small amount of gain error and self-calibration is sufficient.
The Flash memory on the NI 783xR/784xR/785xR stores the results
of a self-calibration so the CalDACs automatically load with the newly
calculated calibration constants the next time the NI 783xR/784xR/785xR
is powered on.
An external calibration refers to calibrating your device with a known
external reference rather than relying on the onboard reference. The
NI 783xR/784xR/785xR has an onboard calibration reference to ensure
the accuracy of self-calibration. The reference voltage is measured at the
factory and stored in the Flash memory for subsequent self-calibrations.
Externally calibrate the device annually or more often if you use it at
extreme temperatures.
During the external calibration process, the onboard reference value is
re-calculated. This compensates for any time or temperature drift-related
errors in the onboard reference that might have occurred since the last
calibration. You can save the results of the external calibration process to
Flash memory so that the NI 783xR/784xR/785xR loads the new calibration
constants the next time it is powered on. The device uses the newly
measured onboard reference level for subsequent self-calibrations.
3-2 ni.com