Alternatives to NI-9208 or DAQ competitors?

[HorseBattery_StapleGuy]

Hello guys! Sorry for asking this question, you've probably heard it before!

Are there any decent alternatives to NI hardware like analog input modules when it comes to DAQs?

I'm talking about equipment combos like this:

• NI-9208 (24 bit, 16 channel analog input module) and maybe cDAQ-9188 or cDAQ-9174, or some other model.

For example, I've seen and know that there's much, much cheaper alternatives for industrial control if using something like a PLC. But most of those AFAIK have analog input modules that reach 16 bits, and that's not considering the differences in scan rates, for the acquisition tasks, etc.

For example in the case of those module its 500S/s. (Pretty sure its aggregate and at high-speed mode though)

- Edit: Forgot to mention, all the ADC inputs of these are Isolated too right? They also have a lot of certs.

What other options are there besides NI hardware for these tasks? I also know Keyence has equipment, but its also really expensive I think.

Plus:

Just in case, you may be wondering if me researching alternative equipment is cost effective / would save cash. But my salary for a month is much less than just one module from NI. ( I'm in a developing country. )

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by HorseBattery_StapleGuy

[infinitenothing]

You could consider building it yourself. Here's a 24 bit 8 ch 250kSamp/sec ADC we use:https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/AD7768-7768-4.pdf

[Tim_S]

1 hour ago, HorseBattery_StapleGuy said:

Are there any decent alternatives to NI hardware like analog input modules when it comes to DAQs?

Well, yes and no and yes and maybe. It all depends on what you're trying to measure and what the system requirements are. And, of course, just because it's cheaper up front doesn't mean it's cheaper overall. If it costs $200 less but takes me 50 hours longer to implement then it costs more.

[HorseBattery_StapleGuy]

1 hour ago, Tim_S said:

Well, yes and no and yes and maybe. It all depends on what you're trying to measure and what the system requirements are. And, of course, just because it's cheaper up front doesn't mean it's cheaper overall. If it costs $200 less but takes me 50 hours longer to implement then it costs more.

I know that. In most scenarios I imagine unless there's a massive cost reduction without sacrificing some system requirement it won't be worth it. Like maybe there's a requirement of hundreds instead of just one piece or something.

But I'm asking more because I want to know what other brands/competitors people use for those kinds of things. Or rather what is the competition of NI in price and capabilities. (For DAQs)

 

[HorseBattery_StapleGuy]

2 hours ago, infinitenothing said:

You could consider building it yourself. Here's a 24 bit 8 ch 250kSamp/sec ADC we use:https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/AD7768-7768-4.pdf

That's really interesting. Is that something people actually do? Like I imagine it'd have to be a specific situation where the hardware requirements don't match and you have to spin something custom I guess.

I imagine that would be really, really expensive in most situations no(?) Because I imagine you'd have to solve calibration issues, layout issues, emission and immunity, plus all the front ends that you'd need like the protection part, the communication interface for the card, testing, certification, etc.

[infinitenothing]

We have an external calibration process so calibrating counts to volts isn't important. Yes, layout, emissions, immunity, the front end, have all been fun. Communication wasn't super hard but there were a few surprises. Testing and cert is on a system basis as this is a relatively small part of a bigger system (similar to calibration)

I have another system where we customed a temperature input, an RS232 port, and an industrial output. We just didn't need that much accuracy so it was NBD.

Try to spec out a similar NI system. I expect we saved a few thousand per unit and you can get a fair amount of engineering time for that.

I was thinking, if you wanted to avoid laying out your own board, you could always buy an eval kit.

Edited March 8, 2022 by infinitenothing

[Tim_S]

On 3/8/2022 at 2:40 PM, HorseBattery_StapleGuy said:

what is the competition of NI in price and capabilities

I was looking at UEI products many years ago, but never had a project could use them on. At the time the PCI cards were very similar specs to NI at less cost, but the front end didn't appear to be as robust. They also had a 'cube' product where it was stackable boards on a base module; it looked interesting, but again didn't have a project that it would work on.

Got a sister division that uses Beckoff remote I/O. The sampling rates would be slower. Recall the prices were pretty good for remote I/O systems when tried to get a feel for the product.

 

[JKSH]

4 hours ago, Tim_S said:

I was looking at UEI products many years ago, but never had a project could use them on. At the time the PCI cards were very similar specs to NI at less cost, but the front end didn't appear to be as robust. They also had a 'cube' product where it was stackable boards on a base module; it looked interesting, but again didn't have a project that it would work on.

Got a sister division that uses Beckoff remote I/O. The sampling rates would be slower. Recall the prices were pretty good for remote I/O systems when tried to get a feel for the product.

I don't have experience with Beckhoff products, but a customer asked us to integrate a UEI Cube a few years ago. I remember thinking that their API was a bit more convoluted than DAQmx.

This customer got non-rugged accessories so they struggled a bit to get good shielding, but I have seen MIL-STD compliant hardware in UEI's product line.

[jacobson]

For more general data acquisition systems I'll hear about UEI, VTI, Dewetron, and HBM. Beckhoff comes up plenty but the remote I/O or industrial control space does lead to them having different strengths/weaknesses.

[Gribo]

There is also Adlink. I have some experience with their PXI cards, but not with their DAQs.

[HorseBattery_StapleGuy]

Wow, I hadn't heard of any of these. (Newbie here) Are any of these actually more cost effective against NI? Actually, I guess that's going to depend a lot, considering there's tons of form-factors and applications. 

They don't seem to have their prices listed. Something tells me they'll have the same price ranges, so probably just as expensive in the end without considering changing to new hardware, docs, support/tools, etc.