Re[3]: PC Based Oscopes ? (PCI)
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Other mfrs of these cards are Signatec, Computer Boards, etc. Gage and Signatec are the two high speed mfrs (>40 MSPS) I would trust.

I have used the Gage cards at work for about 10 years now. They work quite well, with the digitizing getting pretty close to what you'd expect based on the mfr data sheet for the a/d itself. That is, their board layout and amplifiers, etc. are all pretty good.

Their software has improved steadily from the first DOS based clunky stuff to the new windows, etc. compatible stuff. They also have fairly good drivers for writing your own data acquisition programs. Their programs also write the data in a very easy to read file format (which is documented!)

The only real disadvantage I can see is price... These cards aren't cheap. How fast a sample rate do you really need for this application? If it is <100 ks/second, there are a LOT of cheap solutions (i.e. PC sound cards and the like)

Caveats:
1) Doing continuous recording over long periods of time might be a bit of a challenge (i.e. if you wanted to just record at 1 MSPS for 24 hours and spin it off to disk). Talk to Gage and see if their software can handle it (i.e. does it do it now, not, it's theoretically possible if you call their drivers, etc.)
2) The terminology used by Gage for sampling, multiple captures in the same buffer, buffering, etc. is somewhat unique, and may not match what you're familiar with. Read the manual closely and make sure that you are doing what you think you are.
3) A PC data acquistion card is NOT a lab instrument. The user interface is very different, and it's not just a matter of hooking it up and twisting knobs until you get a display.




Created on Wednesday, April 18, 2001 9:06 AM EDT by James Lux