Product Details

The NI PCI-6236 is a bank-isolated M-series multifunction DAQ card designed for PCI bus industrial measurement and control systems. It features 4 differential 16-bit current analog input channels with a maximum aggregate sampling rate of 250 kS/s, which is optimized for 4-20 mA industrial sensor signals. It integrates 4 channels of 16-bit voltage analog output, 6 digital input lines and 4 digital output lines compatible with 5 V TTL/CMOS, together with two independent 32-bit, 80 MHz counter-timer channels. The bank isolation design provides reliable protection against ground loops, common-mode voltage and transient surges, which greatly improves signal stability in noisy industrial environments. It adopts NI-MCal calibration technology to maintain accurate and consistent measurement results over long operation cycles. The onboard FIFO buffer supports continuous buffered acquisition and reduces data dropout risk during long-term logging tasks. Unlike general voltage-input DAQ boards, this model is built for direct current signal acquisition, which fits standard industrial transmitter interfaces.

This DAQ card uses a 37-pin D-SUB connector for all I/O wiring, compatible with matched shielded cables and terminal blocks for field signal connection. It supports analog triggering, digital triggering and flexible clock configuration. The RTSI bus supports synchronization with other NI DAQ instruments to build multi-board coordinated test and control systems. The dual 32-bit counter channels can perform pulse counting, frequency measurement, period capture and incremental encoder signal monitoring. Digital I/O lines can read external switch status and drive relays or low-power TTL circuits for interlock control and trigger routing. It supports DMA data transmission to reduce CPU load during continuous sampling, and built-in self-calibration compensates gain and offset drift to keep measurement precision stable for long-running industrial tests.

This multifunction daq card is widely used in 4-20mA transmitter testing, industrial loop control, process signal monitoring, power equipment verification, manufacturing test stations and OEM isolated measurement equipment integration. It supports NI-DAQmx drivers, compatible with LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI and C/C++ programming environments, so engineers can quickly develop current signal acquisition and analog output control programs. As a discontinued legacy M-series DAQ hardware, the PCI-6236 is mainly used for maintenance and spare replacement of existing industrial measurement platforms. It can retain mature test workflows and avoid the high cost of rebuilding the whole measurement system. Its operating temperature range is 0°C to 55°C, supporting stable continuous operation in laboratory and light industrial sites.