A system simulator has been implemented to aid the development of the RHIC position monitor system. Based on the Lab VIEW software package by National Instruments, this simulator allows engineers and technicians to interactively explore the parameter space of a system during the design phase. Adjustable parameters are divided into three categories: beam, pickup, and electronics. The simulator uses these parameters in simple formulas to produce results in both time‐domain and frequency‐domain. During the prototyping phase, these simulated results can be compared to test data acquired with the same software package The RHIC position monitor system is presented as an example, but the software is applicable to several other systems as well.