You already know more than you suspect about picking the right instrument for your application. Answering these questions will help clarify your requirements
Higher signal frequencies define the need for an instrument that supports faster sampling rates. Consider the signals you want to acquire. How fast do they change with respect to time? Signals that are DC or near DC (e.g. seismographs, smooth/skeletal muscle response, galvanic skin response, DC voltages or currents, RPM, temperatures, etc.) are excellent candidates to be acquired by our starter kits. Higher frequency signals (e.g., hydraulic transients, blood pressures, ECG, EEG, EMG, DC drive waveforms, etc.) are best handled by our general purpose or special purpose instruments.
Data acquisition applications generally fall into one of these two broad categories. PC-connected instruments must be connected to an I/O port of a PC to acquire data. Stand-alone instruments acquire data without a PC, usually to their own internal memory. Model DI-710 Series instruments are stand-alone products.
It's easy to compare the number of channels you need to the number provided by the instrument, but make sure you consider throughput. Multiply your anticipated sample rate per channel by the number of channels you'll acquire. Ensure that this result is less than the maximum throughput rate of the instrument you're considering.
Make a list of the voltage range for each signal you want to acquire. Many of our products offer programmable gain that allows the instrument to adapt to a wide range of amplitudes. Compare your list of requirements to the products you're considering. Most products accept a measurement range of ±1 to ±10 V full scale. Model DI-730 can measure from ±10 mV to ±1000 V full scale. Other situations may require a biomedical or industrial amplifier.
Consider how you'd like to connect the instrument to your PC. Our products offer the flexibility to connect to either laptop or desktop PCs over standard I/O ports, like USB, Ethernet, printer port, and serial ports. Distributed solutions allow multiple data acquisition units spread out over distances as great as 4,000 feet to connect to one PC.
Are you a programmer? Answering this simple question will largely define whether you're a candidate for a ready-to-run application like WinDaq, or you can tackle a programming approach like that offered by our ActiveX control library. It is possible for those with very little programming experience to use a combination of both approaches to their advantage. Read more about it on our ActiveX control page.
Consider these products when your budget is limited and your application doesn't require much power. Solutions in this category can sample from one to sixteen channels at a limited sample rate (usually less than 240Hz throughput). These products are intended primarily as evaluation systems for WinDaq software, but many users find that they don't require anything more advanced because of the limited demands of their application.
Our lowest cost data acquisition system featuring 4 single-ended analog input channels, 10-bit measurement resolution, a serial port interface connection, and 240Hz maximum sample throughput at ±10VFS. View image.
Features 8 single-ended analog input channels, 10-bit measurement resolution, a USB interface connection, up to 14,400 Hz sample throughput rate, and a ±10Volt full scale range. View image.
Features 4 fixed differential analog input channels, 12-bit measurement resolution, a USB interface connection, up to 14,400 Hz sample throughput rate, and a ±10 Volt full scale range with 4 gain settings (1, 2, 4, 8) or ±64 Volt full scale range with 10 gain settings (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 562). View image.
Features 2 single-ended analog input channels designed to accept plug-in DI-5B style signal conditioners, 12-bit measurement resolution, a serial port interface connection, and 240 Hz maximum sample throughput. View image.
General Purpose Instruments. These instruments are used primarily in applications where the signals to be measured are preamplified to within ±1 to ±20 Volt Full Scale range. Each instrument may be fitted with a signal conditioned backpack to extend their measurement flexibility. All are an excellent fit for industrial and life science research applications.
Features 16 single-ended/8 differential analog input channels, 14-bit measurement resolution, a USB or Ethernet interface connection, up to 4,800 Hz sample throughput rate, a ±10 Volt full scale range, and two gain setting configurations (1, 2, 4, 8 or 1, 10, 100, 1000). View image.
Features eight signal conditioned plus eight direct analog input channels, 14-bit measurement resolution, a USB or Ethernet interface connection, up to 4,800 Hz sample throughput rate, a ±10 Volt full scale range, and programmable gain settings of 1, 2, 4, and 8. View image.
Features eight DI-8B signal conditioned inputs, 14-bit measurement resolution, a USB or Ethernet interface connection, and up to 4,800 Hz sample throughput rate. The small size of the instrument and DI-8B modules makes this the smallest complete industrial data acquisition system available. View image.
Features sixteen DI-8B signal conditioned inputs, 14-bit measurement resolution, an Ethernet interface connection, and up to 4,800 Hz sample throughput rate. View image.
Features 32 single-ended/16 differential analog input channels, 14-bit measurement resolution, a printer port, USB, or Ethernet interface connection, up to 250,000 Hz sample throughput rate, a ±10 Volt full scale range and gain settings of 1, 2, 4, 8. View image.
A ruggedized version of the DI-720 Series that offers an extended measurement range of ±20 Volt full scale with 120vrms protection. Well-suited for in-vehicle measurements. View image.
Special Purpose Instruments. The general purpose instruments are fine for the majority of applications, but may not be adequate for other more demanding applications. Consider armature voltage and current measurements off motors, measurements from amplified transducers, integrated data acquisition and signal conditioning in a ruggedized configuration.
Features 8 differential analog input channels designed for ruggedized industrial measurements with 1000 Volt input-to-output and channel-to-channel isolation, 14-bit measurement resolution, printer port, USB, or Ethernet interface connections, up to a 250,000 Hz sample throughput rate, and a ±1000 Volt full scale range and 6 gain settings. View image.
Designed specifically for measurements using amplified transducers, the DI-740 provides an isolated 28VDC power supply per channel. The combination of transducer excitation and data acquisition within one package allows simplified measurements in hydraulics, pneumatics or any application where amplified pressure, load and displacement transducers are used. View image.
These instruments allow DI-5B plug-in signal conditioning modules to be installed directly into the instrument. 5B modules can be mixed and matched to precisely match you application. View image.
Stand-alone data loggers record data directly to a memory card. Ethernet models allow the instrument to be used as a networked data acquisition server allowing you to download saved data over a network. Click here to learn more about stand-alone data loggers.
The stand-alone data logger model of the DI-710 Series features 16 singleended/ 8 differential analog input channels, 14-bit measurement resolution, a USB or Ethernet interface connection, up to 14,400 Hz sample throughput rate to Memory Card (MMC or SD), a ±10 Volt full scale range, and two gain setting configurations (1, 2, 4, 8 or 1, 10, 100, 1000). View image.
The stand-alone data logger model of the DI-715B Series features eight signal conditioned plus eight direct analog input channels, 14-bit measurement resolution, a USB or Ethernet interface connection, up to 14,400 Hz sample throughput rate to Memory Card (MMC or SD), a ±10 Volt full scale range, and programmable gain settings of 1, 2, 4, and 8. View image.
The stand-alone data logger model of the DI-718B Series features eight signal conditioned analog input channels, 14-bit measurement resolution, a USB or Ethernet interface connection, and up to 14,400 Hz sample throughput rate to Memory Card (MMC or SD). View image.
The stand-alone data logger model of the DI-718Bx Series features sixteen signal conditioned analog input channels, 14-bit measurement resolution, an Ethernet interface connection, and up to 14,400 Hz sample throughput rate to Memory Card (MMC or SD). View image.
Many applications demand a higher channel count or special signal conditioning requirements. The following products may be used to extend the basic measurement capability of most products.
16-channel signal conditioning backpack. Accepts up to 16 DI-8B modules to accomodate virtually any industrial measurement situation using low-cost isolated solutions. View image.
32-channel analog channel expander available in standard and ruggedized versions. View image.
8-channel signal conditioning backpack. Accepts up to 8 DI-5B modules to accomodate virtually any industrial measurement situation using low-cost isolated solutions. View image.
In many instances the signals you need to measure are not centrally located. For example, multiple ovens spread over a large area and the need to measure several temperatures on each. In this situation you probably want to dedicate data acquisition instruments to each oven, and then connect them over a distance to a single PC at your desk, or some other location removed from the ovens.
These WinDaq-supported instruments allow distributed access to remotely monitored points over networks as long as 4,000 feet. The DI-1000TC supports isolated thermocouple measurements at sample throughput rates up to 5 Hz. View image.
A collection of analog and discrete I/O modules with Modbus-RTU protocol network communication. These modules are ideal for a wide variety of distributed I/O applications including data acquisition and control, process monitoring, and test and measurement. Modules may be connected over a maximum communication path of 4,000 feet. DI-900MB modules are not supported by WinDaq software, but their Modbus protocol support allows them to be used with a wide range of process control and monitoring software products. View image.
All products described in the selection guide are supplied with WinDaq/Lite Acquisition and Playback software and ActiveX control software. ActiveX software allows you to use the hardware products from any popular Windows programming language like Visual BASIC, Visual C++, and LabVIEW. WinDaq Acquisition and Playback software allows data acquisition, real time graphical display, stream-to-disk, playback and analysis without programming. View the Data Acquisition Software page.
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