Hot stuff!
Justin Beecher
Product Specialist
Measuring temperature is one of the most common data acquisition
applications, and it’s also one of the simplest – if
you use the right kit! Measurement Computing offers some excellent choices
at highly affordable prices, with some new wireless devices likely to be
at the top of many shopping lists.
Over the years we’ve worked with many hundreds of users who are
collecting temperature measurement data in the lab, the plant floor or
the field. So we feel confident in stating that if you’re
looking for capable, reliable devices that you can connect easily to your
PC via USB, Measurement Computing’s
USB-TC and USB-TEMP devices are hard to fault. They provide the most accurate
temperature measurement possible, since their measurement accuracy exceeds
the accuracy specifications of the temperature sensors themselves.
The difference between the two models?
The USB-TC is designed for use with thermocouples, the most popular type
of temperature sensor because they’re
compact, rugged, inexpensive, easy to connect and respond quickly to temperature
changes. The USB-TEMP can also collect data from thermistors, RTDs and
semiconductor temperature sensors – all
four types simultaneously if that’s what you need! Both models
offer 8 input channels and have inbuilt ambient temperature sensing.
They’re ideal when you are able to position a
PC close enough to the temperature source to connect your sensors directly.
But there are many situations where that’s inconvenient
or impossible.
In that case, how about the USB-501 or 502? These little battery-powered
data loggers are the size of a memory stick – small enough to place
just about anywhere, yet big enough to contain all the software you need
to install, configure and download data, set timings and alarm levels,
and log over 16,000 temperature measurements (plus the same number of humidity
measurements in the case of the USB 502). The devices simply plug them
into a USB port to download, display and save your data.
However the capacity of these little loggers may not be
enough for your application. In that case you’ll
need something like the USB-5201/5203.
They’re also standalone temperature logging devices, but they come
with a 64 MB CompactFlash card that can store some 2.35 million time-stamped
temperature values from a single channel (if you need more, the unit supports
CF cards up to 2 GB). To retrieve the data, either connect the unit to
your PC via USB, or place the removable CF card into a card reader.
Functionally, the USB-5201 and 5203
are equivalent to the USB-TC and USB-TEMP, with the former for thermocouple
input only and the latter capable of handling all the other sensor types.
The same applies to the final choice on our list – the
WLS-TC and WLS-TEMP.
With these, you have the option of collecting data in real
time over long periods of time, because they transmit sensor data wirelessly
to your PC. A small USB wireless receiver enables communication with a
virtually limitless number of WLS-TCs and WLS-TEMPs, at distances up to
50 metres indoors, and as much as 750 metres line-of-sight outdoors. Setting
a wireless data acquisition system up is easy (see panel opposite) and
gives you the convenience of installing your devices permanently at the
point of measurement.
Please use the links on the left to find out more... |
