DAQ Software Alternative [closed]

Question

I wanted to get NI USB-6008 DAQ but I don't want to burn a hole in my wallet buying LABView. Are there any alternatives to LABView as DAQ software for this card? Is it possible to use Visual C++ Express or OS software like BioMOBIUS with this DAQ card?

Answer 1

Yes, the USB-6008 supports both ANSI-C or .NET control WITHOUT Labview, LabWindows, or Measurement Studio although these are certainly great options as well.

You'd use the NI-DAQmx library.

Reference:

See page 7 and 8 of the USB-6008 manual here: http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/371303l.pdf

Answer 2

NI offer Measurement Studio that allows you to use their DAQ devices with Visual Studio. I'm not sure if you can use it with Visual C++ Express but as it's a .net library I'd expect it to work.

From the NI Website:

Measurement Studio is an integrated measurement solution of tools created specifically for V isual Studio .NET programmers. It is designed for engineers and scientists building test, measurement, and control applications in Visual Studio 2010/2008/2005.

Measurment Studio is not free (as pointed out by @BenVoigt, thanks Ben) but is less than half the price of LabVIEW Base. I understand that it will give you access to many of the visual controls and indicators similar to LabVIEW but this does come at a price and if they are not needed then there are better options.

For a free option the NI-DAQmx library as mentioned by @crlanglois looks a much better choice.