-------------------------Monitor------------------------ The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 94 www.windmill.co.uk May 2006 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- We hope you enjoy this issue of Monitor , but should you wish to cancel your subscription you can do so at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html CONTENTS ======== * Windmill News: USB Unit Comparison * Windmill Notes: Connecting USB Units * DAQ News Roundup * Excel Corner: Annotating a Chart * Data Acquisition and Control Exhibitions ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill News: USB Unit Comparison ________________________________________________________ With our USB data acquisition and control units you can monitor voltage, strain, thermocouples, RTDs, resistance and pH; output an analogue voltage or current; switch digital outputs and read digital inputs; and count. Several of the USB units we sell overlap in their functions, so which to choose? We now have a newly updated table showing the possible functions of each unit and its price. This is at: https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/wm700.html ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill Notes: Connecting USB Units ________________________________________________________ Lights on the USB Units Our USB units have two lights labelled ENUM and BUSY. Neither of these will come on until you have installed the Windmill software. ENUM stands for Enumerated. This is lit when the USB unit has been powered on by the USB plug and play controller. It is a good indication that the Windmill driver software has been correctly loaded. The BUSY light shows that the USB unit is communicating with the Windmill software. Unused Analogue Inputs You can leave analogue inputs that you aren't using unconnected. Be aware, though, that if you attempt to read from one of these you won't get 0 V: it could be any value. If another connected channel has recently been read then the unconnected input will return a similar value. This is not crosstalk. It occurs because the input capacitance of the amplifier is charged to the voltage of the previous channel and has little incentive to change when connected to an open circuit. Further Reading: ================ Issue 24 of Monitor ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ Welcome to our roundup of the latest findings in data acquisition and control. If you would like to receive more timely DAQ news updates then grab our RSS newsfeed at https://www.windmillsoft.com/monitor.xml. Read https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsfeed.php for information how. Cellphone masts can measure rainfall Cellphone masts could provide a cheap yet accurate way to measure rainfall. Monitoring the way rain interferes with the signals routinely sent between phone masts produces very similar results to rain gauges, say Israeli researchers. Source: New Scientist http://www.newscientisttech.com/ Beyond the Kilogram: Redefining SI Units The world's official standard for mass - a 115-year-old cylinder of metal - will likely join the meter bar as a museum piece in the near future. Will the standards for electric current, temperature and amount of substance soon follow? According to a new paper, three more base units of the SI that are not currently linked to true invariants of nature - the ampere, kelvin and mole should also be redefined. Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology https://www.nist.gov/ Surging demand for PCB automatic test equipment The European electronic manufacturing industry is witnessing surging demand for printed circuit board (PCB) automatic test equipment to identify defects in electronic assemblies and improve product quality, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan. Source: Frost & Sullivan http://www.testandmeasurement.frost.com/ Body's Defences Aid Computer Networks Computer networks seem to take on more and more characteristics of their human operators with every passing day. Like us they have long been prey to vicious attacks from bugs, viruses and worms, but the networks of the future could be protected by an intrusion detection system modelled on the body's immune defences. Like our immune system, it will have an inbuilt ability to avoid raising too many false alarms. Source: New Scientist http://www.newscientisttech.com/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Excel Corner: Annotating a Chart ________________________________________________________ We were recently asked how to annotate a chart in Excel. This is quite simple... 1. Click the chart to which you want to add the note. 2. On the Drawing toolbar, click Text Box. (If you can't see the Drawing toolbar, select it from the View menu, Toolbars option.) 3. Click and drag where you want the comment to be. 4. Type into the box. That's all there is to it. Further Reading =============== For more on charting with Excel see https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/excel-charting.html ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Data Acquisition Exhibitions and Conferences ________________________________________________________ Continuing the quarterly list of exhibitions around the world covering data acquisition and control. SENSOR+TEST 2006 Nuremberg Germany 30 May - 1 June International trade fair for sensors, measuring and testing technologies. http://www.sensor-test.de/main/dpgh71tn/page.html Sensors Expo & Conference Rosemont Illinois USA 5-7 June Focuses on sensors and sensor-integrated systems. http://www.sensorsexpo.com/sensors2006/v42/index.cvn Factory Automation and Assembly Technology Bangkok Thailand 1-4 June The 7th international factory automation and material handling technology exhibition and conference. http://www.assemblytechexpo.com/en/home.html COMADEM 2006 Lulea Sweden 12-15 June International congress and exhibition on condition monitoring and diagnostic engineering management. http://www.comadem2006.ltu.se/ NEPCON/MICROELECTRONICS Penang Penang Malaysia 13-16 June The latest in the electronics manufacturing industry. http://www.nepcon.com.my/ DMS: Design Engineering & Manufacturing Solutions Tokyo Japan 21-23 June Trade show and conference focusing on IT solutions for the manufacturing industry. http://www.dms-tokyo.jp/english/ Instrumentation Scotland & Offshore Systems Aberdeen Scotland 6-7 September Bienniel event for companies who supply products and services specific to the offshore industry and those representing processing, power generation, paper, distilling, water and waste, and marine engineering. http://www.instrumentation.co.uk/ Analytica China 2006 19-21 September 2006 Shanghai 3rd International trade fair for analysis and laboratory technology. http://www.analytica-world.com/?id=22509 ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ * Copyright Windmill Software Ltd * Reprinting permitted with this notice included * For more articles see https://www.windmill.co.uk We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and use extracts from it on your own web site or publication, providing the above notice is included and a link back to our website is in place. An archive of previous issues is at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html and an index of articles at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html Windmill Software Ltd, PO Box 58, North District Office, Manchester, M8 8QR, UK Telephone: +44 (0)161 834 6688 Facsimile: +44 (0)161 833 2190 E-mail: monitor@windmillsoft.com https://www.windmill.co.uk/ https://www.windmillsoft.com/
Subscribing
To receive Monitor every month please fill in your e-mail address below. We will not pass your address to any third parties, nor send you any unsolicited e-mail.
