Low Noise facilitates High Accuracy

We obtain high accuracy by placing the noisy microprocessor in an external box, away from the signal conditioning amplifiers in the card cage; as illustrated below.

The below picture shows the i430 card digitizing 0 Volts at a 1K sample-per-second rate on it's +-10mV range with 2.5 microvolts RMS of internal noise (no integration).

To further reduce noise, one can digitize more slowly and integrate each point. The below scenario is similar to the above, yet with 16 mSec integration per point at 60 samples-per-second resulting in 0.2 microvolts RMS of noise.

Optional Anti-Aliasing Filter

The optional 8-Pole i500 analog low pass filter daughterboard is ideal for anti-aliasing. It provides extremely low ±0.01 dB maximum passband ripple for Fin/Fc ≤ 0.5. If one uses further oversampling, digital filtering and desampling; then passband ripple is ±0.002 dB for Fin/Fc ≤ 0.8 due to the accuracy of a 30-pole digital filter. The end user installs between 1 and 6 filter daughterboards onto each i423 card, one per channel. For details, click here.

i4xx Series Data Acquisition Cards

#iNet-410 Communications card connects an iNet-400 card cage to a Windows computer via an instruNET iNET-240 USB controller	#iNet-420 Provides 20 single-ended (SE)/10 differential (DI) voltage input channels and 4 universal digital I/O	#iNet-423 Provides 6 differential (DI) voltage input channels; each of which has its own amplifier and low pass filter	#iNet-430 Provides 16/8 DI/SE voltage input channels with a 16-bit A/D converter, 4 voltage outputs, and 4 digital I/O	#iNet-460 Provides 12 universal digital I/O (20 mA sink, -10 to 30 V) and 16 digital I/O (200 mA sink, -10 to 30 V)

instruNet Software

instruNet includes software to interrogate, test, configure, and do I/O with all network channels. This includes an application program called "instruNet World" and interfaces to Visual Basic, C, and C++. instruNet software can configure all I/O channels, store your settings, view digitized data in real time, stream data to disk, and scroll through your waveform post-acquisition. instruNet software runs on Windows computers. Free software and manual updates are available here.

instruNet World	iW+	DASYLab	LabVIEW
Direct To Excel	C/C++	Visual BASIC	instruNet Scope

Connect Directly To Sensors

The table below shows which sensors directly connect to each hardware product. The numbers in the table refer to number of channels; and if you click on those numbers, you will be redirected to the measurement accuracy for that sensor and product. The following sensors require an external shunt resistor: RTD, thermistor, resistance measurement, current measurement, ¼ bridge strain gage, and ½ bridge strain gage. Thermocouple sensors require an i51x Wiring Box attached to the i4xx card 28. In order to do voltage measurement, one needs at least one i430 A/D card. One only needs one i43x a/d card per card cage.

Analog and Digital I/O Cards

instruNet i4xx cards are installed by the end user into an instruNet card cage that is 4, 8, 12 or 16 slots wide. Each card is 13 x 2.5 x 13 cm in size. Below is a list of available cards. For more details on each, click on the model number in the below table.

i555 Starter System

Why is instruNet Better Than Other Systems?

Low Cost Card Cage
instruNet is a low cost card cage that attaches to Windows computers via USB 2.0. The advantage of a card cage is one can mix and match modules as needed, to build exactly what they need. The advantage of the instruNet card cage is cost. For example, instruNet 4/8/12/16 slot chassis sell for $100 per slot; whereas comparable chassis are 2x to 4x more costly.

Analog Backplane Reduces Cost
The instruNet card cage typically has one a/d measurement module and additional modules provide signal conditioning. The conditioned analog signal is routed to the a/d module via the backplane. This is dramatically different from comparable systems which place a/d measurement electronics on each module. The advantage of the instruNet topology is cost. After the 1st module is installed, additional instruNet channels are conditioned at approximately $40 per channel; whereas comparable systems typically cost 2x to 8x more.

Universal Inputs Reduces Cost
instruNet measurement modules have universal inputs that enable one to directly connect each channel to one of: Thermocouple, Thermistor, Strain Gage, Load Cell, Counter/Timer, RTD, Voltage, Current, Resistance and Accelerometer. Absolute accuracy for all of these sensor types is specified. In some cases, the end user adds an external shunt resistor. The advantage of universal inputs is cost.

Low Cost Optional Anti-Aliasing Filters
The optional 8-Pole i500 analog low pass filter daughterboard provides very accurate anti-aliased data at low cost.

Connect to Computer Via USB

Each instruNet Network is controlled by an instruNet i240 DSP controller card that attaches to a Microsoft 32bit or 64bit Windows ≥ Xp Sp2, Vista, 7 or 8 computer via High Speed USB 2.0 at 480mbit/sec. Each i240 Controller is an independent computer in itself that utilizes a powerful 32-bit DSP processor and onboard RAM to control all aspects of data acquisition along its network. All real-time tasks are off-loaded to this processor, therefore the host computer is not burdened with real-time issues. Each instruNet network supports up to 4 instruNet iNET-400 card cages.

Maximum Sample Rates

The following table shows maximum aggregate sample rates for an i240 USB controller attached to an i4xx Card Cage. To calculate the sample rate for each channel, divide by the number of channels attached to the i240 controller. For example, if the maximum aggregate sample rate is 166Ksamples/sec/controller, and you digitize 4 channels, then you could digitize each channel at 41Ks/sec/channel. For more details on this table, click here. One can attach up to four i240 controllers to a computer to increase total system throughput.

i51x Wiring Boxes

#iNet-510	#iNet-511	#iNet-512

i51x wiring boxes easily bolt to i4xx cards. The i510 is the simplest and is included with the i555 starter system. The i511 includes 8 bnc connectors. The i512 has a vRef/2 source that is used to help complete 1/4 bridge and 1/2 bridge strain gage circuits. If you are measuring thermocouples, then the i510 is the only wiring box that will work, since it contains an internal temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the i510 screw terminals. For more details on each, click on the model number in the below table.

Low Cost 4/8/12/16 Slot Card Cage

The i400 product provides 4 slots, and multiple i400's can be bolted together by the end user, side-by-side, to create an 8, 12, or 16 slot system. In many applications, one i400 with 4 slots is sufficient.

Further Reading

• List of Instrunet Products
• Compatible Computers & Operating Systems
• Specifications: i420, i423, i430

instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system,data acquisition card, pci data acquisition, data acquisition software, data acquisition boards, pcmcia data acquisition, PC-based data acquisition, PC data acquisition, data acquisition hardware, data acquisiton, data acquistion, thermocouple, thermocouple amplifier, thermocouple meter, thermocouple signal condition, thermocouple measurement, thermistor, thermocouple amplifier, thermistor meter, thermistor measurement, thermistor signal condition, strain gage, strain gage amplifier, strain gage meter, strain gage measurement, strain gage signal condition, RTD, RTD amplifier, RTD meter, RTD measurement, RTD signal condition, 0-20mA, 0-20mA amplifier, 0-20mA meter, 0-20mA measurement, 0-20mA signal condition, resistance meter, resistance measurement, volt meter, voltage measurement, current meter, current measurement, isolated signal condition, A/D board, A/D card, analog to digital converter, A/D converter, a/d, analog-to-digital, analog-to-digital converter, digitize, digitize waveform, digitize waveform with a/d, dasylab, data translation, iotech, adac, metrabyte, gw instruments, glenn weinreb, windows, windows xp thermocouple, thermocouples, thermocouple sensor, thermocouple measurement, j thermocouple, k thermocouple, t thermocouple, e thermocouple, r thermocouple, s thermocouple, b thermocouple, n thermocouple, instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system,pci data acquisition, data acquisition card, signal conditioner, amplifier, thermocouple meter, thermocouple supplier, thermocouple manufacturer, thermocouple store, thermocouple amplifier, thermocouple measurement, instrunet, gw instruments, windows, windows xp, excel, dasylab, labview thermistor, thermistors, thermistor sensor, thermistor measurement, ysi thermistor, 2252 thermistor, 40xxx series thermistor, 10000 thermistor, 10K ohm thermsitor, precision thermistor, instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system,pci data acquisition, data acquisition card, signal conditioner, amplifier, thermistor meter, themistor supplier, thermistor manufacturer, thermistor store, thermistor amplifier, temperature measurement, instrunet, gw instruments, windows, windows xp, excel, dasylab, labview strain gage, strain gages, strain gage, strain gages, strain gage sensor, strain gage measurement, 120 ohm strain gage, 350 ohm strain gage, load cell strain gage, precision strain gage, ¼ Bridge strain gage, ½ Bridge strain gage, full bridge strain gage, axial strain gage, instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system,pci data acquisition, data acquisition card, signal conditioner, amplifier, strain gage meter, strain gage supplier, strain gage manufacturer, strain gage store, force measurement, force sensor, strain gage amplifier, strain gage measurement, instrunet, gw instruments, windows, windows xp, excel, dasylab, labview quadrature, quadratures, quadrature sensor, quadrature measurement, linear quadrature, radial quadrature, and many other precision quadrature sensor types, instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system,pci data acquisition, data acquisition card, signal conditioner, amplifier, quadrature meter, quadrature supplier, quadrature manufacturer, quadrature store, quadrature amplifier, instrunet, gw instruments, windows, windows xp, excel, dasylab, labview load cell, load cells, load cell sensor, load cell measurement, 120 ohm load cell, 350 ohm load cell, 1000 ohm load cell, precision load cell, instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system,pci data acquisition, data acquisition card, signal conditioner, amplifier, load cell meter, load cell supplier, load cell manufacturer, load cell store, force measurement, force sensor, load cell amplifier, load cell measurement, instrunet, gw instruments, windows, windows xp LabVIEW, LabVIEW software, LabVIEW data acquisition, LabVIEW hardware, LabVIEW and ni, instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system, pci data acquisition, data acquisition card, LabVIEW a/d board, LabVIEW boards, LabVIEW and national instruments, LabVIEW and instruNet, MeasX, National Instruments, datalog, dasytec, instrunet, gw instruments, windows, windows xp data logger, PC-based data logger, data loggers, data logger, PC data logger, pc-based data logger, pc data logger, data logger systems, data logger hardware, data logger software, data logger card, data logger board, thermocouple, thermocouple amplifier, thermocouple meter, thermocouple signal condition, thermocouple measurement, thermistor, thermocouple amplifier, thermistor meter, thermistor measurement, thermistor signal condition, strain gage, strain gage amplifier, strain gage meter, strain gage measurement, strain gage signal condition, RTD, RTD amplifier, RTD meter, RTD measurement, RTD signal condition, 0-20mA, 0-20mA amplifier, 0-20mA meter, 0-20mA measurement, 0-20mA signal condition, resistance meter, resistance measurement, volt meter, voltage measurement, current meter, current measurement, isolated signal condition, A/D board, A/D card, analog to digital converter, A/D converter, a/d, analog-to-digital, analog-to-digital converter, digitize, digitize waveform, digitize waveform with a/d, dasylab, data translation, iotech, adac, metrabyte, gw instruments, glenn weinreb, windows, windows xp instrunet, data acquisition, data acquisition system,data acquisition card, pci data acquisition, data acquisition software, data acquisition boards, pcmcia data acquisition, PC-based data acquisition, PC data acquisition, data acquisition hardware, data acquisiton, data acquistion, thermocouple, thermocouple amplifier, thermocouple meter, thermocouple signal condition, thermocouple measurement, thermistor, thermocouple amplifier, thermistor meter, thermistor measurement, thermistor signal condition, strain gage, strain gage amplifier, strain gage meter, strain gage measurement, strain gage signal condition, RTD, RTD amplifier, RTD meter, RTD measurement, RTD signal condition, 0-20mA, 0-20mA amplifier, 0-20mA meter, 0-20mA measurement, 0-20mA signal condition, resistance meter, resistance measurement, volt meter, voltage measurement, current meter, current measurement, isolated signal condition, A/D board, A/D card, analog to digital converter, A/D converter, a/d, analog-to-digital, analog-to-digital converter, digitize, digitize waveform, digitize waveform with a/d, dasylab, data translation, iotech, adac, metrabyte, gw instruments, glenn weinreb, windows, windows xp