For more information about these devices, including signal generator features and programming, refer to the NI Signal Generators Help at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-FGEN»Documentation. This online document contains hardware information, concepts, a detailed VI/function reference for the NI-FGEN instrument driver, and information specific to your device.
9. Generating Waveforms Interactively.............15 Generating a Standard Waveform............16 Generating an Arbitrary Waveform ...........17 Generating a Video Signal (NI 5431 Only) ........18 10. Generating Waveforms Programmatically ..........19 NI-FGEN Examples................19 NI-FGEN Instrument Driver..............19 NI Composite Video Generator (NI 5431 Only) .......19 11. Creating and Editing Waveforms ............20 Appendix A: Front Panels................20 NI PXI/PCI-5401 ................21 NI PXI/PCI-5402/5406 ..............23...
2. Unpacking NI signal generators ship in an antistatic envelope to prevent electrostatic discharge (ESD). ESD can damage several components on the device. Never touch the exposed pins of connectors. Caution To avoid damage when handling the device, take the following precautions: •...
3. Follow the instructions in the installation prompts. For installation troubleshooting information contact NI technical support or visit ni.com/support (Windows Vista) Users may see access and security messages during installation. Accept the prompts to complete the installation. 4. When the installer completes, a dialog box appears that asks if you want to restart, shut down, or restart later.
1 PXI Chassis 3 Screws 2 Ejector Handle 4 NI PXI signal generator Figure 1. PXI Installation 6. Slide the module completely into the chassis and latch it by pulling up on the ejector handle. Tighten the captive screws at the top and bottom of the module front panel.
Installing PCI Devices To install the PCI device, complete the following steps: 1. Power off and unplug the PC. 2. Remove the PC cover. 3. Insert the device into an open PCI slot, as shown in Figure 3. 1 NI PCI Device 2 PCI Slot 3 Computer Chassis Figure 3.
7. Configuring and Testing in MAX Complete the following steps to configure and test your device: 1. Launch MAX. 2. In the configuration pane, double click Devices and Interfaces and expand the NI-DAQmx Devices folder. If you are using a remote RT target, expand Remote Note Systems, find and expand your target, and then expand Devices and Interfaces.
Page 14
NI 5421, the device configuration tree label may appear as , where is the device NI PXI-5421: " Dev1 " Dev1 name. When developing your application, the resource name for your device is the device name MAX assigned to the device.
for your device is , where is the device number MAX DAQ:: n assigned to your device. To avoid modifying existing applications that use a Traditional NI-DAQ (Legacy) device number, rename the assigned NI-DAQmx device name to the Traditional NI-DAQ (Legacy) device number used in your application.
Generating a Standard Waveform To generate a standard waveform using the FGEN SFP, complete the following steps: 1. Launch the FGEN SFP from Start»All Programs» National Instruments»NI-FGEN»FGEN Soft Front Panel. 2. Verify that the device you installed appears on the FGEN SFP display, shown in Figure 4, or select Edit»Device Configuration (Figure 5) to choose a different signal generator device from the drop-down listbox.
1. Launch the FGEN SFP from Start»All Programs» National Instruments»NI-FGEN»FGEN Soft Front Panel. 2. Verify that the device you installed appears on the FGEN SFP display, shown in Figure 4, or select Edit»Device Configuration (Figure 5) to choose a different signal generator device from the drop-down listbox arrow.
To generate a video signal using the NI Video Signal Generator Wizard, complete the following steps: 1. Launch the NI Video Generator Wizard by selecting Start» All Programs»National Instruments Composite Video Generator»Video Generator Wizard. To use the NI Video Generator Wizard, the LabVIEW Note Run-Time Engine version 5.1.1 must be installed.
NI Composite Video Generator (NI 5431 Only) To programmatically generate video signals, use the NI Composite Video Generator in LabVIEW. For information about programmatically generating video signals, refer to the NI 5431 Composite Video Generator Help. Access this help file by selecting Help»NI 5431 from the LabVIEW VI menu bar. 11.
Page 23
Table 1. NI PXI-5401 Front Panel Connectors Connector Access Function ARB OUT Output Provides the waveform output. SYNC OUT Output Provides a TTL-level output of the waveform being generated at the ARB OUT connector. EXT TRIG Input Accepts a TTL-level signal that you can use to start or step through a waveform generation.
Page 25
Table 3. NI PXI/PCI-5402/5406 Front Panel Connectors Connector Access Function CH 0 Output Provides the waveform output. REF IN Input Accepts a PLL Reference clock from an external source and can frequency lock the Sample clock timebase to the external Reference clock. SYNC OUT/ Input/Output Provides a TTL-level output of the waveform...
Page 27
Table 4. NI PXI-5404 Front Panel Connectors Connector Access Function SINE Output Provides a sine waveform of the desired frequency output. CLOCK Output Provides a TTL version of the sine waveform being generated at the SINE connector. PFI 0 Input/Output Accepts either a TTL signal to start waveform generation, or provides an output to synchronize—or trigger—other devices at...
Page 29
Table 5. NI PXI-5411/5431 Front Panel Connectors Connector Access Function ARB OUT/ Output Provides the waveform output. VIDEO OUT SYNC OUT Output Provides a TTL-level output of the waveform being generated at the ARB OUT connector. EXT TRIG Input Accepts a TTL-level signal that you can use to start or step through a waveform generation.
NI PXI/PCI-5412/5421/5422/5441 The NI 5412 is a 100 MS/s, 20 MHz, 14-bit arbitrary waveform generator. The NI 5421 is a 100 MS/s, 43 MHz, 16-bit arbitrary waveform generator. The NI 5422 is a 200 MS/s, 80 MHz, 16-bit arbitrary waveform generator. The NI 5441 is a 100 MS/s, 43 MHz, 16-bit arbitrary waveform generator with Onboard Signal Processing (OSP).
NI PXIe-5442 The NI 5442 is a PXI Express, 100 MS/s, 43 MHz, 16-bit arbitrary waveform generator with Onboard Signal Processing (OSP). The NI 5442 has four SMB connectors, as shown in Figure 13. Signal descriptions are listed in Table 8. NI PXIe-5442 100 MS/s AWG OSP ACCESS...
Where to Go for Support The National Instruments Web site is your complete resource for technical support. At you have access to everything from ni.com/support troubleshooting and application development self-help resources to email and phone assistance from NI Application Engineers.
Page 36
National Instruments, NI, ni.com, and LabVIEW are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation. Refer to the Terms of Use section on ni.com/legal for more information about National Instruments trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. For patents covering National Instruments products, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your CD, or ni.com/patents .
Need help?
Do you have a question about the PXI-5421 and is the answer not in the manual?
Questions and answers