Price drop on PCI DAQ Cards

Audon Electronics have reduced the price of the PCX range of PCI data acquisition and control cards. The range was designed with the industrial user in mind, and feature real-world interfaces such as relays, Darlington drivers and optically isolated inputs.

There are seven models available ex-stock, 4 digital I/O cards, a counter/timer card an analogue output card and a multifunction I/O card

All cards come with a comprehensive software development kit with a dll, ActiveX and numerous examples in Visual Basic and C++. Also included are LabView VI's and examples and Intouch drivers.

Prices start at just £99.

The USB-AD - Where's the DAQ Unit?

Available from Audon Electronics is the USB-AD USB based multifunction I/O unit which is so small it could be mistaken for a connector. The USB-AD has 16 analogue inputs, 1 analogue output, 4 digital inputs and 4 digital outputs all enclosed in a standard 37-way D-type connector housing. Supplied with a copy of NextView4-Live software for data acquisition and control and a wide selection of Windows, MAC and Linux programming examples.

The USB-AD is a low cost USB based multifunction I/O unit with 16 x ±5V 12-bit analogue inputs, 1 x ±5V 12-bit analogue output, 4 digital inputs and 4 digital outputs. Data can be acquired at up to 500Hz rate at 12-bit resolution. All I/O are presented to a 37-way D-type socket. The user can connect to this directly or optional expansion boards are available. Up to 127 units can be connected to a single PC.

Drivers are available for Windows, MAC and Linux operating systems. The USB-AD is supplied with an Active-X component and comprehensive programming examples for use with most common programming languages. There are also VI for use with LabVIEW and there is a USB-AD component icon the ProfiLab-Expert programming package.

The USB-AD is also supplied with a copy of nextView4-Live data acquisition and control software. With NextView-Live, the user can acquire and analyse data, set analogue and digital outputs and read the status of the digital inputs. The user can create their own screens, with chart displays, text, alarm panels, output sliders etc.

The USB-AD is available ex-stock for £79 (ex VAT and Delivery)

Multifunction USB DAQ Unit is Cheap but Fast

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

USB DAQ Unit has Flexible I/O

Available from Audon Electronics is the LabJack U3 low-cost USB multifunction data acquisition and control device. The U3 has 16 "flexible" inputs which can be configured for any mix and analogue, digital input or digital output making for a very versatile general purpose DAQ unit. The U3 is supplied with a wide range of FREE Data logging software and examples for use with most programming and DAQ packages.

The LabJack U3 can have up to 16 analogue inputs available on the flexible I/O lines. Single-ended measurements can be taken of any line compared to ground, or differential measurements can be taken of any line to any other line. Analogue input resolution is 12-bits with an input range of 0-2.4 volts. Optional signal conditioning adaptors are available that can condition the inputs to 0-5V, 0-10V or 4-20mA.

The LabJack U3 can have up to 20 digital I/O channels. 16 are available from the flexible I/O lines, and 4 are dedicated digital I/O. Each digital line can be individually configured as input, output-high, or output-low. The digital I/O use 3.3 volt logic and are 5 volt tolerant. Up to 2 flexible I/O lines can be configured as timers. The timers are very flexible, providing options such as Pulse Width Modulated output, pulse timing, pulse counting, and quadrature input from encoders. Up to 2 flexible I/O lines can be configured as 32-bit counters.

The LabJack U3 also has 1 or 2 dedicated analogue outputs which can be set to provide an output voltage between 0 and 5 volts with 8-bits of resolution.

The LabJack U3 is supplied with a range of free software. The LabJack Control Panel application handles configuration and testing of the U3. When first opened it searches for connected LabJacks and displays a panel whereby all the I/O types can be configured. The application also displays analogue/digital inputs and has boxes to set analogue/digital outputs. The U3 has field upgradeable flash memory. The self-upgrade application programs the latest firmware into the processor. FREE firmware upgrade will be available from time to time bringing improved performance and new features.

The U3 is also supplied with a copy of DAQFactory Express data acquisition and control, software. DAQFactory Express offers data logging, user designable screens with trending, automation capabilities and more. The U3 is also supported by the RealView Chart recorder software and the ProfiLab-Express programming package.

For programmers, the U3 is supplied with Visual C and Visual Basic modules for the LabJackUD driver, and simple example projects. A LabVIEW VI is also supplied.

The U3 is rugged and is designed for industrial use: the operating temperature range is -40°C to + 85°C and all I/O are overload and short-circuit protected. The ABS enclosure has screw mounting attachments and optional DIN rail mounting clips.

Available ex-stock from Audon Electronics for £69