Chapter 4
Signal Conditioning
©
National Instruments Corporation
4-7
Connecting Ground-Referenced Signal Sources
A grounded signal source is connected in some way to the building system
ground; therefore, the signal source is already connected to a common
ground point with respect to the DAQ board (assuming the host computer
is plugged into the same power system). Nonisolated outputs of
instruments and devices that plug into the building power system fall into
this category.
Differential Inputs
If the MIO DAQ board is configured for differential inputs,
ground-referenced signal sources connected to the AMUX-64T board need
no special components added to the AMUX-64T board. You can leave the
inputs of the AMUX-64T board in the factory-original condition, that is,
with only jumpers in the two series positions, E and F (see Table 4-1).
You can build signal conditioning circuitry, such as filters and attenuators
(described in
, and
Building Attenuators (Voltage Dividers)
later in this chapter), in the open
component positions.
Single-Ended Inputs
When measuring ground-referenced signals, the external signal supplies
its own reference ground point and the MIO board should not supply one.
Therefore, you should configure the MIO board for nonreferenced
single-ended input mode. In this configuration, you should tie all of the
signal grounds to AISENSE, which connects to the negative input of the
instrumentation amplifier on the MIO board. You can leave the inputs of
the AMUX-64T board in the factory-default condition, that is, with
jumpers in the series position (E or F, depending on the channel). You
should not use the open positions that connect the input to AIGND, B and
D (see Table 4-1 and Figure 4-1) in this configuration. Therefore, you
should not build signal conditioning circuitry requiring a ground reference
in the open component positions. Referencing the signal to AIGND can
cause inaccurate measurements resulting from an incorrect ground
reference.
Caution
N
EVER
connect a signal to screw terminals CH0–CH63 that violates their
overvoltage protection limits. When the AMUX-64T is powered on, the screw
terminals CH0–CH63 overvoltage protection is ±35 V; when the AMUX-64T is
powered off, overvoltage protection is ±20 V.
!