EC: DT9829 multi-sensor measurement tool

Hardware — Test, Measurement, Calibration: The DT9829 is a multi-sensor measurement module that provides up to eight input channels that allow any sensor connections on any channel including: voltage, current, thermocouples, RTDs, thermistors, resistance, bridge-based sensors, and strain gages. This is a Control Engineering 2015 Engineers’ Choice honorable mention.

By Control Engineering October 20, 2014

The DT9829 provides up to eight multi-sensor input channels. Any sensor merely has to be connected at an input and all selections-including any necessary for excitation, cold junction compensation, or bridge completion-are included and supported by the free QuickDAQ application software. No other circuitry or external components are necessary. The software and hardware act seamlessly to make all measurements of the sensor without any other user interaction. All the messy details are taken care of by the software and the hardware inside the module. There is no interaction between channels, regardless of the sensor type for any channel.

Accuracies have been meticulously designed to preserve the integrity of the sensor measurement. For example, thermocouples have built-in cold junction compensation circuitry that is positioned right at the connector to prevent air flow or error sources in the connection. An additional example is the ability to perform 2-, 3-, or 4-wire resistor, thermistor, or RTD measurements on any channel. Further, the design includes automatic compensation for the errors normally incurred from lead wire resistance in the commonly used 3-wire configuration.

Data Translation Inc. 

www.datatranslation.com