The USB myPCLab DAQ Units has Universal Inputs

Available from Audon Electronics is the myPCLab USB
data acquisition unit which accepts thermocouples, PT100
temperature probes, Volts and 4-2OmA loops all for under
£60.



myPCLab is a very compact Data Acquisition tool which connects
to a PC via a USB port and monitors two universal analogue inputs,
accepting thermocouples, Ptl 00, Voltages and 4-2OmA current
loops along with one digital input. Sampling rate can be up to 128
samples per second and ADC resolution is user adjustable from
11 to 15 bits. There is built-in thermocouple and P11 00 linearisation
and automatic thermocouple cold-junction compensation.

The myPCLab comes with an intuitive and easy-to-use Windows
data logger software package which plots data, shows gauges,
bargraphs and digital readouts and logs data to disk. Logged data
can be exported in multiple file formats (xis, pdf, rtf, xml, html,dbf,
txt, csv) for easy importation to analysis and Spreadsheet packages.

The myPCLab software can simultaneously communicate with multiple
modules, making it easy to expand the number of inputs of a
measurement system.



Although the myPClab is USB based, it actually uses a virtual RS232
Com port, so any software package that can talk to a Corn port can
communicate with the myPClab. There are two communications
modes, ASCII text and Modbus.

With ASCII text Auto-send, data is transmitted from the myPClab
in a simple comma separated ASCII text format at a pre-set time
interval. Data can be read using any package capable of accepting
ASCII strings including most daq packages such as LabVIEW, VEE,
DAoFactory, TestPoint etc, programming languages VB, Delphi,
C++ .NET, and terminal programs such as HyperTerminal.

In MODBUS RTU Slave mode, myPCLab acts as a Modbus RTU
slave that can answer to Read Holding Register requests, Modbus
command number 3. The module doesn t have a specific Modbus
address, since it s the only device in its serial port. It will answer to
read request to any valid slave address. It can therefore be used
with every SCADA software package that support MODBUS RTU.

For more information, please contact :-

Audon Electronics
123 High Road, Chilwell, Nottingham NG9 4AT. UK
Tel: +44 (0)115 925 8412
Fax +44 (0) 115 925 9757
Web: www.audon.co.uk

LabJack U12 USB DAQ Unit

Now available in the UK from Audon Electronics is the LabJack U12 USB data acquisition and control unit.

The Labjack features 8 single ended or 4 differential analogue inputs,
2 analogue outputs, 20 digital I/O including a 32 bit counter and
watchdog timer. This is all crammed into a sturdy unit measuring only
150mm x 110mm x 35mm. 

The LabJack has a ±10V input range at 12-bit resolution. Differential
channels can make use of the low noise precision amplifier with gains
of 1,2,4,8,16,20, giving an effective resolution of greater than 16-bits.
Data can be streamed to disk at 1kHz and a bursts mode allows over
4000 samples to de taken at a 8kHz rate. The two 0-10V analogue
output channels can be updated at a 50Hz rate with 10-bit resolution.
All analogue I/O are accessed via screw terminals.

The LabJack has 20 digital I/O channels which can be individually
configured as input or output. Four digital I/O's are accessed via
screw terminals whilst the remaining 16 are accessed through a
25-way D connector; an optional relay/opto-isolator expansion
board is available.There is also one 32-bit counter available on
the LabJack U12, capable of counting frequencies up to 1 MHz. 
The LabJack U12 also has a watchdog timer function available
which can change the states of digital I/O if the LabJack does not
successfully communicate with the PC within a specified time-out
period. This function could be used to reboot the PC allowing for
reliable unattended operation.

The use of the PC's USB port allows for a simple plug-and-play
installation process and by using USB hubs, up to 80 LabJacks
may be connected to a single USB port.

Included with the LabJack are the free example applications
LJlogger and LJscope. LJlogger provides datalogger type
functionality. It reads all inputs, controls all outputs, writes real
time data to the Internet or hard disk, and sends email when
events are triggered. LJscope is a virtual oscilloscope program
with FFT display.

Drivers are provided as a DLL which can be called from most
programming languages. Also included are an ActiveX wrapper
and LabVIEW VIs which call all the functions in the DLL.