The PDS5022S bench Digital Storage Oscilloscope has been specifically designed as an entry level instrument for educational, hobby and budget-driven applications. Although low-cost, the PDS5022S is packed with a wide range of useful functions usually only seen on higher-end DSO's, such as video trigger and auto-measurement. The large full colour LCD display makes for a clear unambiguous waveform display.
The PDS5022S is a 100MSPS dual channel 8-bit DSO with a 25MHz bandwidth, featuring a large 7.8" 640 x 480 pixel colour LCD display. The PDS5022S has easy-to-use controls and a simple and clear menu system. A compact and robust design that will not take up too much bench space.
The PDS5022S has several display modes: Normal mode operates like a standard 'scope with simple manual control of timebase, triggering, etc. XY Mode is where CH1 is displayed on the horizontal axis and CH2 is on the vertical axis. When the oscilloscope is under the sampling mode in which no trigger is found, the data appears as light spots. There is also an Auto-set mode, that allows the Oscilloscope to display and measure unknown signals automatically. This function optimizes the position, range, timebase and triggering and assures a stable display of virtually any waveform.
There is also an Average Display mode where the displayed waveform is an average of a pre-set number of waveform samples. This can eliminate noise which can otherwise obscure readings.
The PDS5022S can perform 5 types of automatic measurements, such as frequency, cycle, average value, peak-to-peak value and root mean square value. Up to 2 types of measurement results can be display simultaneously on the screen. Standard Maths functions are also included such as adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing calculation on CH1 and CH2 channel waveforms.
There are two triggering modes including Edge triggering and Video triggering. The Edge triggering is a mode by which trigger occurs at the triggering threshold value of the input signal edge. With the Edge triggering selected, the trigger happens on the rising or falling edge of the input signal. With Video triggering selected, the oscilloscope performs the NTSC, PAL or SECAM standard video signals field or line trigger.
Other Features include waveform storage where up to 4 waveforms can be saved in the HDS1022M's internal memory for comparison display or upload to a PC. Stored Data can be uploaded to a PC via RS232 or USB in bitmap or ASCII format.
The PDS5022S is supplied with carry case, scope leads, CD and manual and is available ex-stock for just £215.
The U120816 is a very low cost USB data acquisition module which provides eight single-ended 12-bit analogue inputs, 16 digital I/O lines, two programmable pulse-width output channels, and one 16-bit counter channel. Analogue sampling rate is 32 ksamples/s maximum, with up to 13 ksamples/s for all 8 channels.
There are 8 single ended analogue input channels with an input range of 0-4.096V, 12 bit, so the resolution would be 1mv. The U120816 supports scan and streaming modes for data acquisition. The user can scan a single channel or scan multi-channels at once. In scan mode, the execution time is 8ms or 125Hz per channel. In streaming mode, the U120816 can start streaming data to the PC immediately or upon external trigger input, select through software. In trigger mode, a high state on the trigger line will start the data acquisition. The maximum throughput of streaming data varies with number of channels and they are also system dependant. Typically this is up to 32Ksamples/s for a single channel and 13Ksamples/s for all 8 channels.
There are 16 bi-directional digital I/O lines in U120816 module. Each line is software configurable to be either input or output high or output low. At power-up or reset, all lines are set to be input by default. All digital lines are 5V TTL and include a 470 ohm series resistor to provides over voltage/short-circuit protection. Each channel also has a 1M resistor connected to ground.
Thre is an external trigger line for streaming mode data acquisition. It is software configurable if the user wants to wait for this line. When in use, as soon as the line goes high, the device will start hardware timed data acquisition. This is a TTL level input.
There are two 10-bit PWM outputs in U120816. Software can set the period and duty cycle for each channel separately. The period is between 3 micro seconds to 333 micro seconds or the frequency is 333kHz to 3kHz. Duty cycle can be set between 0 – 100%. The PWM outputs can be used to light LEDs, drive motors, or convert to analogue outputs by adding an extra circuit.
The U120816 has a 16-bit counter. Software has the option to select if the counter should be reset after the read or not. The counter is incremented when it detects a falling edge followed by a rising edge. If you reset the counter while your signal is low, you will not get the first count until it goes high-low-high again.
The U120816 is supplied with the free application iDAQTest&Log. This package that can be used to test the U120816 device and log analogue input data and read back logged data for basic analysis. With this software, the user can browse through all the features in U120816, such as read single analogue channel, multiple analogue channels, streaming analogue input data continuously for display and log into file with or without external trigger, set DIO directions and read/write DIO states, set PWM output, read counter etc.
The U120816 also comes with a programming API iUSBDAQ.dll. This DLL can be called by third party applications. Programming examples are supplied in VB , ActiveX , dot net , C/C++ , Delphi, MacOSX. There is also a LabVIEW VI and program examples. Price for the U120816 is only £79
The Poseidon 3268 is a simple Ethernet based stand-alone device which can send an email alarm when up to 4 monitored temperature or humidity sensors exceeds their defined range. The Poseidon 3266 also has 4 contact-closure inputs which can be used to trigger alarms on state change and there are 2 relay outputs which can be used to reset servers, or switch on a fan, etc.
Temperature or combined temperature/humidity sensors can be connected via RJ11 cable using the 1-wire protocol. Sensors are simply connected in a serial chain using RJ11 cable. These can be up to 10m away from the Poseidon 3268. You can assign a name to each sensor and also define high and low alarm limits. When the parameter goes outside these limits, the Poseidon 3266 can send user defined email alarm messages and toggle the output relays.
Once the Poseidon 3268 is connected to the LAN, you can run the free UDP setup utility, which will search the LAN to find all attached devices. You can then specify your desired Network address parameters. Once this is done, you can simply access the I/O data from a web browser. There is also a flash-based version.
All sensor's values as well as alarm status information are available from XML files (temper.xml) and any application can log it from XML tags. The Poseidon 3268 also supports the Modbus/TCP protocol, so it is easy to integrate with common SCADA packages such as DAQFactory.
Typical applications include monitoring conditions in server rooms, switch-boards, cold-storage buildings, freezers and fridges and other environmental monitoring tasks.
The GPIB-USB4 controller from Audon Electronics converts any computer with a USB port into a GPIB Controller or Device. In Controller mode, the GPIB-USB controller can remotely control GPIB enabled instruments such as Oscilloscopes, Logic Analyzers, and Waveform Generators. In Device mode, the GPIB-USB controller converts the computer into a GPIB peripheral for downloading data and screen plots from the instrument front panel. In both modes, the GPIB-USB controller interprets high level commands received from the host computer and performs the appropriate low-level GPIB protocol handshaking.
While the GPIB-USB4 controller provides many of the same features as GPIB-USB controllers from other vendors, it is much easier to use. The GPIB-USB4 controller provides a virtual serial interface to communicate with instruments, while handling all GPIB protocol details for you. As a result, you can communicate easily with instruments using any terminal program instead of having to write custom programs using the vendor supplied library
The GPIB-USB controller can operate in two modes – Controller mode and Device mode.
In Controller mode, the GPIB-USB Controller acts as the Controller-In-Charge (CIC) on the GPIB bus. When the controller receives a command over the USB port it addresses the GPIB instrument at the currently specified address to listen, and then returns the received data to the PC. Controller mode is used to remotely control instruments and to download screen plots by sending plot commands from a host computer.
In Device mode, the GPIB-USB Controller acts as another peripheral on the GPIB bus. In this mode, the GPIB-USB controller configures itself as a GPIB Listener. All data received by the controller over the GPIB port is passed to the USB port. Device mode is used to download screen plots from the instrument front panel for rendering using plotter emulation software.
A wide variety of host software may be used to communicate with the GPIB-USB controller. Any terminal emulation program, such as HyperTerminal, can be used to communicate with the controller and instruments connected to it. Any programming language or environment that provides access to serial ports or allows interfacing to DLL may be used to develop custom applications. Graphical programming environments like National Instruments LabView, DAQFactory and Agilent VEE may be used as well. Finally, it is possible to use plotter emulation applications such as 7470.exe, PrintCapture and Plottergeist to render screen plots from any common HPGL plotter instruments.
The GPIB-USB4 is available ex-stock from Audon Electronics for under £100
Audon Electronics now stock the CUTOUCH CT1721, an integrated Touch panel, 5.6" graphic LCD, and programmable embedded computer. Based on Comfile’s "PLC-on-a-chip" technology, the CUTOUCH CT1721 provides fast processing speed, 82 digital I/O ports, 8 channels of 10-bit A/D, 6 x 16-bit PWM outputs, and 80KB Flash Program memory so you can quickly develop HMI devices for industrial machines, factory temperature controllers, packing machines, robots, embedded control, and more!
Using the FREE Cubloc-Studio Software, the CUTOUCH CT1721 can be programmed in both Basic and/or Ladder Logic, allowing fast control, complex maths, dynamic touch-screen graphics, and fast data-communication protocols to be easily implemented. Ladder Logic, offers real-time sequential processing and Basic supplies the number-crunching power. Both the real-time processing powers of a MODBUS PLC and the 32-bit floating-point maths, graphic capabilities, and communication powers of Basic are now available in one product.
The free CuCanvas software can be used to draw graphics such as boxes, circles, and menu buttons with keypads. These simple graphics can be made to animate, say to show the rise and fall of liquid in a tank for example. For more complex graphics PixelStudio software allows the user to create up to 200 custom images.
The CUTOUCH CT1721 has 82 digital I/O ports with a mix of 32 opto-isolated inputs, 32 transistor outputs and 17 5V TTL I/O. A range of expansion modules are available giving mains relay outputs, motor control, Compact Flash data memory storage and wireless Bluetooth interfaces. Using an optional XPORT internet module, TCP or UDP packets can be monitored through the internet from anywhere, allowing users to update or provide customer service for products located anywhere in the world.
The CUTOUCH CT1721 has 80KB Flash Memory for Basic and Ladder programs, 28KB for data memory, a Real Time Clock, and one of the two RS232 serial ports can be used for download and debug. With 8 channels of 10-bit analgue input and 6 channels of 16 bit Pulse Width Modulated output, the CUTOUCH CT1721 is ready-made for lots of industrial applications. An internal battery provides safe data backup.
MODBUS Master and slave support is also included, making the CUTOUCH CT1721 ideal for customized industrial use.
A stater kit is available that includes the CT1721 controller, a paper manual, all software on a CD, interface cables and RS232 programming cable all for under £250
