[Solved] PXI system questions

[blueskull]

Test gear gurus,

Is there anyone who has dealt with PXI systems from NI and KS?

I'm looking into build a cheap (relatively) PXI system with the following components:

1. NI PXIe-8301 Thunderbolt 3 PXIe controller
2. NI PXIe-1078 PXI/PXIe chassis
3. KS M9240A auto probe I/F
4. KS M9243A 1GHz 2ch scope *2
5. KS M9111A SMU *3
6. A 6.5-dgt DMM of any brand I can scavenge

Here are the questions:

1. I don't want to spend $ on LabView nor its ilks. Can I still use an NI chassis and controller card?
2. If I use a measurement card (a DMM perhaps) from NI, can I still get around without LabView? I'm willing to code with VISA/SCPI as long as it's not something complicated as a scope.
3. KS IO Suite is only available on Windows and Linux. How can I get it to run on a Mac? Or alternatively, how can I passthrough thunderbolt devices over to a desktop VM (not the expensive ones like ESXi)?

Thanks for your help.

Solved. Ordered a Keysight embedded controller w/ Windows 7 pre-installed.

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

Is this as replacement for a general lab, or for automated test (or tests that require a lot of automation, like characterization of circuits or chips)? If the latter, I would say why not just invest in a small dedicated computer and run matlab/python/whatever on that to do your measurements?

I don't have much experience with PXI systems, but I'm used to just running a computer and talking SCPI to my instruments regardless of the formfactor.

[Gribo]

You can use PXI with any language (Python, C#, VB). It becomes useful when you need high instrument density (Lots of scope channels, DIO, power supplies in a 4U form factor) and tight timing/triggers that standard benchtop devices can't provide, otherwise it is just a very expensive equipment rack.