Every month, Control’s editors take a specific product area, collect all the latest, significant tools we can find, and present them here to make your job easier. If you know of any tools and resources we didn’t include, send them to [email protected], and we’ll add them to the website.
TECHNICAL REFERENCE
OMEGA Engineering
800/848-4271
Transactions in Measurement & Control series Volume 2, Data Acquisition, acts as a technical reference for everyday users of instrumentation and controls. Data Acquisition, Volume 2, is packed with information on analog I/O functionality, analog signal transmission, digital signal transmission, digital I/O functionality, presentation and analysis and data acquisition hardware.
ALL ABOUT SCADA
ISA
919/549-8411
SCADA: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, 3rd Edition, by Stuart Boyer is an overview of SCADA’s component technologies. After completing its 14 self-study units, readers should be conversant with SCADA nomenclature and architecture, understand the basic technology of the system’s building blocks, understand its limitations, understand how it can benefit particular operations, and have a basis for selecting appropriate SCADA technologies for their operational requirements.
PCI BUS FOR DATA ACQUISITION
Data Translation
800/525-8528
White paper entitled “Benefits of the PCI Bus for Data Acquisition and Imaging” discusses what a PCI bus is; bandwidth breakthrough for fast data rates; bus mastering for low latency; PCI bandwidth comparison; processor independence; ISA bus performance degrading; benefits of PCI for data acquisition applications; benefits of PCI for imaging applications and upgradable compatibility.
FIVE ANSWERS
Dataforth
520-741-1404
“Why Use Isolated Signal Conditioners?” from Dataforth shows you how to answer five PC-based measurement questions with isolated signal conditioners. It addresses issues of cross-talk, common-mode voltage, DC common-mode rejection, AC common-mode rejection, and measurement range and input protection.
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
National Instruments
800/531-5066
Tutorial entitled “Tips and Techniques in Data Acquisition Triggering—NI-DAQmx” covers is aimed at helping you learn NI-DAQmx programming fundamentals. Through video and text tutorials, this series will take you from verifying your device’s operation in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to programming data acquisition applications using LabVIEW. It is intended for both the beginner who wants to learn how to use DAQ Assistant, as well as the experienced user who wishes to take advantage of advanced NI-DAQmx functionality.
TECH TIP TOPICS
IOtech
888/714-3272
Tech Tips is a collection of technical articles intended to help engineers use their data acquisition systems more effectively. It covers topics not normally found in hardware manuals, such as solutions to installation and environment problems, explicit equipment features and functions, connections to specific sensors and actuators, ground loops and noise.
