Advantages of NI Digital Multimeters (DMMs)

National Instruments offers PC-based digital multimeters (DMM) ranging from low-cost, portable options to high-performance 7½-digit models.  Special features include inductance and capacitance measurements, sampling rates up to 1.8MS/s, and extended calibration cycles with industry-leading accuracy.  Combined with NI switch modules, these DMMs provide the flexibility to perform high channel-count, high-resolution measurements for demanding automated test applications.

Hardware Benefits

The FlexADC is the backbone of the NI FlexDMM family (NI PXI-4072, PXI-4071, PXI-4070, and PCI-4070) – it provides the noise, linearity, speed, and flexibility required to achieve high-speed and high-precision measurements.   It optimizes linearity and noise for up to 7½-digit precision and stability, yet offering digitizer sampling rates up to 1.8 MS/s.  Furthermore, all FlexDMMs employ one of the most stable onboard references available –resulting in a reference temperature coefficient of less than 0.3 ppm/ºC and time stability on the order of 8 ppm/year. No other DMM in this price range offers this reference source and its accompanying stability – that is why NI FlexDMMs offer a 2-year guaranteed accuracy.

Software Benefits

Included with all NI Digital Multimeters is the NI-DMM Soft Front Panel (SFP) which provides an interactive display for taking simple DMM measurements.  For automated test systems, engineers can then use the NI-DMM instrument driver to programmatically access and control their DMM hardware.  NI-DMM is optimized for use with NI LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI, and Measurement Studio for Visual C++, as well as Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and provides over 30 examples programs to get users up and running quickly with automated measurements.

To further extend the ease-of-use of the NI-DMM driver, the NI DMM/Switch Express VI for LabVIEW allows users to create custom scan lists with any NI multiplexer switch module through one simple dialog box.  With available features such as multipoint DMM measurements and hardware synchronization, the DMM/Switch Express VI provides the most common setup and configuration steps for DMM measurement systems without the need for programming.