National Instruments PCI-8430 User manual

SerialHardwareandSoftwareHelp
July2007,370447J-01
ThishelpfilecontainsinstructionstohelpyouinstallandconfiguretheNI
serialhardwareandsoftwareforWindows2000/XP/Server2003/Vista,
WindowsXPx64/Server2003x64/Vista64,andLabVIEWReal-Time.
Formoreinformationaboutthishelpfile,refertothefollowingtopics:
UsingHelp
RelatedDocumentation
Glossary
ImportantInformation
TechnicalSupportandProfessionalServices
TocommentonNationalInstrumentsdocumentation,refertotheNational
InstrumentsWebsite.
©2002–2007NationalInstrumentsCorporation.Allrightsreserved.

AboutthisHelpFile
ThishelpfilecontainsinstructionstohelpyouinstallandconfiguretheNI
serialhardwareandsoftware.Thishelpfileincludesinformationabout
thefollowingserialhardware:
PCI-8430(two,four,eight,and16port),PCI-8431(two,four,and
eightport),PCI-8432(twoandfourport),andPCI-8433(twoand
fourport)
PCI-232(two,four,eight,and16port),PCI-485(two,four,and
eightport),PCI-232isolated(twoandfourport),andPCI-485
isolated(twoandfourport)
PXI-8430(two,four,eight,and16port),PXI-8431(two,four,and
eightport),PXI-8432(twoandfourport)andPXI-8433(twoand
fourport)
PXI-8420(two,four,eight,and16port),PXI-8421(two,four,and
eightport),PXI-8422(twoandfourport),andPXI-8423(twoand
fourport)
USB-232(one,two,andfourport)andUSB-485(one,two,and
fourport)
ENET-232(twoandfourport)andENET-485(twoandfourport)
ExpressCard-8420(twoport)andExpressCard-8421(twoport)
PCMCIA-232(one,two,andfourport)andPCMCIA-485(oneand
twoport)
ThishelpfileassumesthatyouarealreadyfamiliarwithWindowsand
LabVIEWReal-Time.

RelatedDocumentation
Thefollowingdocumentscontaininformationthatyoumayfindhelpfulas
youusethishelpfile:
ANSI/EIA-232-DStandard,InterfaceBetweenDataTerminal
EquipmentandDataCircuit-TerminatingEquipmentEmploying
SerialBinaryDataInterchange
EIA/RS-422-AStandard,ElectricalCharacteristicsofBalanced
VoltageDigitalInterfaceCircuits
EIA-485Standard,StandardforElectricalCharacteristicsof
GeneratorsandReceiversforUseinBalancedDigitalMultipoint
Systems
MicrosoftPlatformSoftwareDeveloperKit,MicrosoftCorporation
NISerialHardwareGuide
NI-VISAHelp

UsingHelp
Conventions
NavigatingHelp
SearchingHelp
PrintingHelpFileTopics

Conventions
Thishelpfileusesthefollowingformattingandtypographical
conventions:
<> Anglebracketsthatcontainnumbersseparatedbyan
ellipsisrepresentarangeofvaluesassociatedwithabit
orsignalname—forexample,AO<0..3>.
» The»symbolleadsyouthroughnestedmenuitemsand
dialogboxoptionstoafinalaction.Thesequence
File»PageSetup»Optionsdirectsyoutopulldownthe
Filemenu,selectthePageSetupitem,andselect
Optionsfromthelastdialogbox.
Thisicondenotesanote,whichalertsyoutoimportant
information.
Thisicondenotesacaution,whichadvisesyouof
precautionstotaketoavoidinjury,dataloss,orasystem
crash.
bold Boldtextdenotesitemsthatyoumustselectorclickinthe
software,suchasmenuitemsanddialogboxoptions.
Boldtextalsodenotesparameternames.
darkred Textinthiscolordenotesacaution.
ExpressCard
serialboards
ExpressCardserialboardsreferstoallversionsofthe
ExpressCardserialboards.
green Underlinedtextinthiscolordenotesalinktoahelptopic,
helpfile,orWebaddress.
italic Italictextdenotesvariables,emphasis,crossreferences,
oranintroductiontoakeyconcept.Italictextalsodenotes
textthatisaplaceholderforawordorvaluethatyoumust
supply.
monospace Textinthisfontdenotestextorcharactersthatyoushould
enterfromthekeyboard,sectionsofcode,programming
examples,andsyntaxexamples.Thisfontisalsousedfor
thepropernamesofdiskdrives,paths,directories,
programs,subprograms,subroutines,devicenames,
functions,operations,variables,filenames,and

extensions.
monospace
bold
Boldtextinthisfontdenotesthemessagesand
responsesthatthecomputerautomaticallyprintstothe
screen.Thisfontalsoemphasizeslinesofcodethatare
differentfromtheotherexamples.
PCIserial
boards
PCIserialboardsreferstoallversionsofthePCIserial
boards.
PCMCIA
serialboards
PCMCIAserialboardsreferstoallversionsofthe
PCMCIAserialboards.
PXIserial
boards
PXIserialboardsreferstoallversionsofthePXIserial
boards.
SerialENET SerialENETreferstoallversionsoftheENETserial
boards.
USBserial
boards
USBserialboardsreferstoallversionsoftheUSBserial
boards.

NavigatingHelp(WindowsOnly)
Tonavigatethishelpfile,usetheContents,Index,andSearchtabsto
theleftofthiswindoworusethefollowingtoolbarbuttonslocatedabove
thetabs:
Hide—Hidesthenavigationpanefromview.
Locate—LocatesthecurrentlydisplayedtopicintheContentstab,
allowingyoutoviewrelatedtopics.
Back—Displaysthepreviouslyviewedtopic.
Forward—DisplaysthetopicyouviewedbeforeclickingtheBack
button.
Options—Displaysalistofcommandsandviewingoptionsforthe
helpfile.

SearchingHelp(WindowsOnly)
UsetheSearchtabtotheleftofthiswindowtolocatecontentinthishelp
file.Ifyouwanttosearchforwordsinacertainorder,suchas"related
documentation,"addquotationmarksaroundthesearchwordsasshown
intheexample.SearchingfortermsontheSearchtaballowsyouto
quicklylocatespecificinformationandinformationintopicsthatarenot
includedontheContentstab.

Wildcards
Youalsocansearchusingasterisk(*)orquestionmark(?)wildcards.
Usetheasteriskwildcardtoreturntopicsthatcontainacertainstring.For
example,asearchfor"prog*"liststopicsthatcontainthewords
"program,""programmatically,""progress,"andsoon.
Usethequestionmarkwildcardasasubstituteforasinglecharacterina
searchterm.Forexample,"?ext"liststopicsthatcontainthewords
"next,""text,"andsoon.

NestedExpressions
Usenestedexpressionstocombinesearchestofurtherrefineasearch.
YoucanuseBooleanexpressionsandwildcardsinanestedexpression.
Forexample,"exampleAND(programORVI)"liststopicsthatcontain
"exampleprogram"or"exampleVI."Youcannotnestexpressionsmore
thanfivelevels.

BooleanExpressions
Clickthe buttontoaddBooleanexpressionstoasearch.Thefollowing
Booleanoperatorsareavailable:
AND(default)—Returnstopicsthatcontainbothsearchterms.You
donotneedtospecifythisoperatorunlessyouareusingnested
expressions.
OR—Returnstopicsthatcontaineitherthefirstorsecondterm.
NOT—Returnstopicsthatcontainthefirsttermwithoutthesecond
term.
NEAR—Returnstopicsthatcontainbothtermswithineightwords
ofeachother.

SearchOptions
UsethefollowingcheckboxesontheSearchtabtocustomizeasearch:
Searchpreviousresults—Narrowstheresultsfromasearchthat
returnedtoomanytopics.Youmustremovethecheckmarkfrom
thischeckboxtosearchalltopics.
Matchsimilarwords—Broadensasearchtoreturntopicsthat
containwordssimilartothesearchterms.Forexample,asearch
for"program"liststopicsthatincludethewords"programs,"
"programming,"andsoon.
Searchtitlesonly—Searchesonlyinthetitlesoftopics.

PrintingHelpFileTopics(WindowsOnly)
CompletethefollowingstepstoprintanentirebookfromtheContents
tab:
1. Right-clickthebook.
2. SelectPrintfromtheshortcutmenutodisplaythePrintTopics
dialogbox.
3. SelectthePrinttheselectedheadingandallsubtopicsoption.
NoteSelectPrinttheselectedtopicifyouwanttoprint
thesingletopicyouhaveselectedintheContentstab.
4. ClicktheOKbutton.

PrintingPDFDocuments
ThishelpfilemaycontainlinkstoPDFdocuments.ToprintPDF
documents,clicktheprintbuttonlocatedontheAdobeAcrobatViewer
toolbar.

Introduction
Thefollowingtopicsexplainhowtousethishelpfile,listwhatyouneed
togetstartedandoptionalequipmentyoucanorder,andbrieflydescribe
theNIserialhardwareandsoftware.
HowtoUsethisHelpFile
WhatYouNeedtoGetStarted
OptionalEquipment
SerialHardwareOverview
PCIKits
PXIKits
USBKits
ENETKits
ExpressCardKits
PCMCIAKits
NI-SerialSoftwareOverview
Time-SavingDevelopmentTools

HowtoUsethisHelpFile
Tousethishelpfile,refertothefollowingflowchartandtheappropriate
topics.

WhatYouNeedtoGetStarted
BeforeyouinstallyourserialhardwareandtheNI-Serialsoftware,make
sureyouhaveallofthefollowingitems:
Oneofthefollowinghardwarekits:
PCIKits
PCI-8430(two,four,eight,or16port)
PCI-8431(two,four,oreightport)
PCI-8432(twoorfourport)
PCI-8433(twoorfourport)
PCI-232(two,four,eight,or16port)
PCI-485(two,four,oreightport)
PCI-232isolated(twoorfourport)
PCI-485isolated(twoorfourport)
PXIKits
PXI-8430(two,four,eight,or16port)
PXI-8431(two,four,oreightport)
PXI-8432(twoorfourport)
PXI-8433(twoorfourport)
PXI-8420(two,four,eight,or16port)
PXI-8421(two,four,oreightport)
PXI-8422(twoorfourport)
PXI-8423(twoorfourport)
USBKits
USB-232(one,two,orfourport)
USB-485(one,two,orfourport)
ENETKits
ENET-232(twoorfourport)
ENET-485(twoorfourport)
ExpressCardKits
ExpressCard-8420(twoport)
ExpressCard-8421(twoport)

PCMCIAKits
PCMCIA-232(one,two,orfourport)
PCMCIA-485(oneortwoport)
ThefollowingCD:
NI-SerialSoftware,whichisincludedinyourkit

OptionalEquipment
Formoreinformationaboutorderingthefollowingoptionalequipment,
contactNationalInstruments:
DB-9RS-485terminationconnector(PCI-485,PCI-8431,PCI-
8433,ExpressCard-8421,PCMCIA-485,PXI-8421,PXI-8423,PXI-
8431,PXI-8433,USB-485,andENET-485only)
10-positionmodularjacktoDB-9cable(PCIandPXIfour-port
boardsonly)
10-positionmodularjacktoDB-25cable(PCIandPXIfour-port
boardsonly)
68-pintoDB-9adaptercable(PCIandPXIeight-portandPCI/PXI-
8430/16boardsonly)
RS-2329-pinto9-pinnullmodemcable
RS-2329-pinto9-pinstraight-throughcable
RS-2329-pinto25-pinnullmodemcable
RS-4859-pinto9-pinnullmodemcable
Breakoutbox(PCI-232/16andPXI-8420/16boardsonly)
Externalpowersupply(ENETandUSB-485/4only)
USBcable(USBtwoandfourportonly)
OneofthefollowingCategory5twisted-pairnetworkcards(ENET
only)
Straight-throughcableforconnectingtheserialENETtoanetworkhub
CrossovercableforconnectingtheserialENETdirectlytoacomputer's
networkinterfacecard(NIC)