PCI DIO-96 ???

[craig]

Think I just found a forum to call home! Due to my pack rat tendencies I have 3 National Instruments PCI DIO-96 cards lying around. I'm thinking about building an XP box to use all 3, powered by Vixen.
Has anyone used multiple DIO-96 cards with success?
Are there any suggestions for sending the signal over distance? (Cat5, 100-200 feet, to activate puck style relays 3-32v)
thanx
craig

[RavingLunatic]

craig,

Back in march, myself and a couple of others helped KC work the bugs out of the PCI-DIO 96 plug-in. The end product was controlling 2 cards without any problem. That was with Vixen 1.1.11 and I haven't tried it under Vixen 2.0 yet.

My setup at the time was to check the output of the PCI-DIO 96 cards directly with an oscilloscope and I haven't yet made a setup to control any lights with the PCI-DIO 96 yet.

From reading the specs on the PCI-DIO the outputs aren't very robust so I envision that I will be running the outputs thru a input buffer chip to an ULN2803. From that point the setup will look like any controller board and provide compatable signals for Sean's SSR boards.

Hope this info is helpful. I'd be interested to see if you have any problems with running 3 PCI-DIO 96 boards at the same time. :D

Good Luck!

[craig]

Mr. Lunatic, :)
Thanks for the advice. I'm very new at building my own stuff, so I might ask some really lame questions. You mentioned running the "outputs thru a input buffer chip ". Can you recommend a buffer chip or chipset so that I can get an idea how they work? I looked at a specsheet for the ULN2803 and it looks like the 5v TTL signal can go straight to the chip, but I'm too green to know what I don't know. Again, thanks for helping out a newbie.

craig

[RavingLunatic]

craig,

Yes, looking at the specs you should be able to go directly to an ULN2803. The specs show the ULN2803 draws about 1 mA on the input signal and the PCI-DIO-96 can handle up to 2.5 mA on the outputs.

I might be a bit overly cautious but I want to put a buffer chip in-between the PCI-DIO-96 and the ULN2803. For what I paid for the PCI-DIO cards I'd rather add another layer of protection for it in case there is a problem in the SSR that takes out the ULN2803, I wouldn't want to have my card damaged. I could just be adding unnecessary overkill. I haven't done much research into it at this point so I can't recommend any particular chip to you at this time.

Hopefully, once school starts back up and my daughter gets back into a routine where she is doing homework or such in the evenings, I might get some "me" time and be able to get some work done on this project.

With some luck maybe some of the other users who have used these cards in the past might see your post and add their inputs as to how they setup their systems.

RL

[craig]

RL,
Makes sense to me. I just don't posses the wisdom to consider protecting my investment.
You got me headed in the right direction. I'll get to work let you know.
Thanks a million.
craig o

[synnie]

Hi Craig,
Im doing my 2nd yr with the NI PCI DIO 96, i have 2 of them but as yet i havent hooked them up together as in my wisdom i reformatted the Xmas Puter with XP and Uncle Bill in his wisdom has told me im going to have to fork out another $150 to use his software again ( something about activated the disc to many times????????) I am making up buffer boards, 2 sets to run LED lights of one PCI card, and 2 sets to runs SSR's. Bought PCB's from Futurlec and the ULN 2803's so have 6 ULN's per board, 5v from the PCI board to switch 24VDC or 36VDC LEDS. I also have diodes on each input to prevent surge back through the PCI card. Hope this helps, at present still making everything up now the weather is getting warmer an i can get back into the shed without freezing me whatsits off.Synnie

[Dan Ross]

in my wisdom i reformatted the Xmas Puter with XP and Uncle Bill in his wisdom has told me im going to have to fork out another $150 to use his software again ( something about activated the disc to many times????????)

There is an option to activate by phone, just call them and tell them your hard drive crashed and you got a new one. They have never given me any problems, I usually reformat once a year.

[synnie]

yep Dan, i use it all the time, but when i have it running on 3 different computers they get a bit narky when i try to activate it ... dont know why, something to do with one computer one disc idea.... have done a couple of others for family members too so windoze wont let me do any more atm....scored another WinXP Pro disc through our local Salvo's store today ( was hidden in a modem box) so can redo mine now.

[wjohn]

in my wisdom i reformatted the Xmas Puter with XP and Uncle Bill in his wisdom has told me im going to have to fork out another $150 to use his software again ( something about activated the disc to many times????????)

There is an option to activate by phone, just call them and tell them your hard drive crashed and you got a new one. They have never given me any problems, I usually reformat once a year.

Not that I have ever done it, but if you install XP/Vista on one PC, and activate via the Net, you can ring in and tell them that:

a. You upgraded the motherboard, or

b. bought a new PC and retired the old one as it sucked running Vista with only a 486 and 256M of RAM.

[synnie]

doesnt quite work when your trying to activate a P3 550 and the other puter is a P4 2Ghz

[synnie]

Couple of pics of how im doing the PCI DIO96 cards, have 4 sets of 6 ULN2803 darlington relays inside this box, cables from the computer run to breakout boards, they run into the ULN's then out to 5 pin DIN plugs in the front cover of the box. Im using 4 core alarm cable (14/0.20) to run out to the SSR's in the yard simply because i was able to acquire approx 1000 m of it (3000+ ft) for about $50. Cat 5 didnt come close... I did learn one thing, i used a hot glue gun to help hold wires in place on the board so they didnt touch and short with each other... hot glue has a slight conductivity.Is only on one of the ULN boards as i missed one and the other 2 have diodes on them to run 24v straight through instead of 5v

[synnie]

Ill try to post the pics here

[craig]

Synnie,
This is incredibly helpful. I'm ordering some 2803's today.
Are you supplying additional power to the ULN2803's? I'm remembering a thread on Planet Christmas with differences in opinion regarding supplying more voltage to the 2803's. I don't remember which dio card they were discussing though.
thanx
craig

[synnie]

hi craig. im using 5v puter power supply to run of half the 2803's and out to the SSR's, with the other half running 24/36VDC direct from LED strings on a mega tree.Each string will be running approx 80 - 100mA per string. the 2803's will switch the -ve side of all the lines, with the -ve side of the power supplies connected to pin 50 of the breakout boards.i have the NI PCI DIO96 connected to them. They are good for 50v and 500mA continuous load current so for using as a low switch buffer they are ideal, and for the LED strings... so far they seem perfect...will know when i get some time to make up the LED strings as ive described somewhere here or on PC.
Lot of soldering the way i made it up, and had a few drama's with burning a couple of the ULN's so they wont be fixed by time the lights go up, but i will still have 170+ channels so im not complaining. If you can craig get the holders for the ULN's....i will next time...Cheers

[craig]

thanks synnie,
I really appreciate you taking the time to give a newbie some advice. I ordered the holders and some extra 2803's because I know how I am.
craig

[synnie]

LOL Craig, im a newbie too, just asked the questions a bit earlier... if i make a stuff up ill let others know what to watch out for

[Macrosill]

Any chance we could get a closer view of that animal?

[synnie]

Closeups as requested