How Do I Configure the NI 5600 and NI 5620 as an NI 5660 RF Vector Signal Analyzer in MAX?

Issue Details

When I right-click on the NI 5600 downconverter under Devices & Interfaces»NI-DAQmx Devices in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX), the NI 5620 high speed digitizer does not appear in the list of digitizers to associate with the NI 5600. How do I associate the NI 5620 with the NI 5600?
 

Solution

Because the NI 5620 is a Traditional NI-DAQ device, it will not appear under the list of associated digitizers when you right-click on your device under NI-DAQmx Devices in MAX. MAX will have a section for Traditional NI-DAQ Devices, the 5620 will appear in that list.

The proper way to configure the NI 5600 downconverter and the NI 5620 high speed digitizer as an NI-5660 RF signal analyzer is to initialize the individual devices together programmatically within LabVIEW using the NI 5660 VIs. The NI 5660 VIs can be found in LabVIEW within the Functions palette under Instrument I/O»Instrument Drivers»ni5660. 

The ni5660 Initialize.vi function has an input for downconverter device number and digitizer resource name. The downconverter device number specifies the number that traditional NI-DAQ assigns to the NI 5600 downconverter in MAX. The digitizer resource name specifies the number that traditional NI-DAQ assigns to the NI 5620 digitizer in the format DAQ::DeviceNumber. Refer to the following screenshot and the NI-RFSA shipping examples specific to the NI 5660 (such as ni5660 Demodulate AM VI) for more information on how to program the device using the ni5660 Initialize.vi function.

Additional Information

If this method fails, there are a handful of considerations that can be made:

• Do RFSA Soft Front Panels allow you to associate the devices? If so, your LabVIEW code may be incorrect.
• Do both the downconverter and digitizer pass a MAX self-test? If not, the failing card may be damaged or require individual troubleshooting.
• Are the components of the 5660 connected as documented in the PXI-5660 Getting Started Guide ?
  • Are cables torqued to spec and undamaged? Try swapping cables if possible.
  • Is the 10MHz ClkOut port of the PXI-5600 outputting a correct 10MHz clock? Use a scope to confirm that a proper clock is being distributed.
• Are the 5600 and 5620 located on the same PXI Trigger Bus?
  • If not, use the Chassis Trigger Routing tab in MAX to reserve trig lines between the buses of the cards
  • If trigger routing doesn't work, try moving the cards onto the same bus to test.