-------------------------Monitor------------------------ The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 106 www.windmill.co.uk May 2007 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- Thank you for subscribing to Monitor. I hope you enjoy the newsletter but should you wish to cancel your subscription you can do so at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html CONTENTS ======== * Windmill News * Excitation in Data Acquisition * Excel Corner: Choosing Markers in a Scatter Chart * DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill News ________________________________________________________ New Staff Member... We're pleased to welcome a new member of staff to Windmill - Asad Syed. Asad has replaced Ben Worthy who has moved to Leceistershire for family reasons. If you ring Windmill with a sales or technical support request you may find yourself talking to Asad. Asad graduated at UMIST with a degree of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He went on to complete a masters degree in Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Management at the University of Huddersfield. He worked in the finance industry before joining Windmill. Born and bought up in Burnley in the Northwest of England, he loves the scenery of the pennine moors which surround the town. * Apology... We have recently had a problem with our technical support form on the web. Although it looked like the form had been sent successfully, when it got to us it was blank. So our apologies to anyone who requested support via the web site and didn't receive a reply. If you still need help please re-submit your request at https://www.windmill.co.uk/techsupp.html ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Excitation in Data Acquisition ________________________________________________________ In data acquisition, excitation is the voltage or current applied to a transducer. Many transducers need a power supply. The signal from these transducers is either a voltage or a mA current. For many transducers the supply will be low voltage DC (direct current), but for transducers based on capacitance measurement an AC (alternating current) supply may be required. When purchasing a data acquisition system you should check that your measurement hardware can be equipped with power supplies suitable for providing the excitation voltage(s) you need. Because the choice of power supply will depend on the number and type of transducers, it's best to draw up a list of transducers and their excitation requirements. The information needed includes voltage range and current requirements, and for AC excitation voltages, the frequency used. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Excel Corner: Choosing Markers in a Scatter Chart ________________________________________________________ Last week we were asked "Can I choose the type of marker used in a scatter chart". The answer is easy. 1. In your chart double-click a data marker which you wish to change. The Format Data Series dialogue appears. 2. Choose the Patterns tab. 3. Select the style of marker you wish. For more tips on using Excel for data acquisition and analysis see https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/ https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/excel-charting.html ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ Welcome to our roundup of the data acquisition and control news. 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 notes on how to display the news on your own web site, read it via e-mail, mobile phone or a newsfeed viewer. New noise discovery promises to improve sensors More sensitive sensors based on semiconductor electronics could result from new findings by researchers from the United States, Norway and Russia. Their research has yielded a decisive step in identifying the origin of the universal "one-over-f" (1/f) noise phenomenon; “f” stands for "frequency." Source: Argonne National Laboratory http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2007/news070510.html Electric fields could give subs 'fish-like' sense Robotic and uncrewed submersibles could operate more effectively by mimicking the way some fish probe their surroundings with electric fields, say researchers. Some fish can generate their weak electric fields over short ranges to help navigate, identify objects, and even communicate with other fish. By studying the biomechanics of these "weakly electric fish", scientists have now come up with an artificial electric-field sensing system. They say it could ultimately give robot submersibles the same additional sensory capabilities. Source: New Scientist http://www.newscientisttech.com/ ISA Announces New Recommended Practice for HMI Task Analysis The new document provides guidance and suggests an approach for conducting a task analysis as part of the design and development of new control rooms and systems for power plants and for supporting major control room upgrade programs. Source: ISA http://tinyurl.com/ypsvf8 Network 20000 times faster than broadband Co-operating universities have created a high-speed, regional optical network that will enable their researchers to better share data and collaborate with colleagues around the world. Called the Broadband Optical Research, Education and Sciences Network (BOREAS-Net), the network consists of a ring of optical fibre cable and other equipment that allows four universities to connect to national research and commercial networks based. Source: The University of Iowa http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/ Industrial Networking Growth in Asia-Pacific Driven by Ethernet Adoption According to a study published by VDC, the global market for network infrastructure products for industry will increase by 25% through 2011. Of the three regions covered in the research - Asia-Pacific, Europe and Americas - the highest overall market growth is forecast for the Asia-Pacific region. Source: VDC http://www.vdcresearch.com/? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ * 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/ Do you have a question, comment or suggestion on this newsletter? Fill in this form to contact the editor.
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May 2007
