Instrument Studio Generates a CSV File Instead of TDMS for VST Data Capture

Updated Sep 21, 2026

Reported In

Hardware

  • PXIe-5840
  • PXIe-5841
  • PXIe-5842

Software

  • InstrumentStudio
  • RFmx

Issue Details

When using Instrument Studio to capture I/Q data and configuring the preferences to save the output in TDMS format, the generated file is instead saved in CSV (.csv) format. For other modules TDMS file is generated as expected.

Solution

This is a known limitation of instruments that use the RFmx/RFSA driver. Currently, TDMS data capture is not supported, except when capturing raw IQ data.

A notification is displayed when data is captured using the toolbar. However, this notification is not shown when data is captured through other workflows.

Additional Information

Raw IQ capture can be enabled by navigating to Settings → Capture Data Options → Capture Raw IQ Data and selecting Enabled.

  

 

Note that a CSV file will also be generated alongside the raw IQ TDMS data. Currently, there is no option to disable CSV file generation.

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