-------------------------Monitor------------------------ The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 158 www.windmill.co.uk September 2011 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- This month we are delighted to launch the Microlink 840. This small box lets you perform a multitude of data acquisition and control tasks. You can use it anywhere on an Ethernet network or over the internet. Furthermore it comes with Windmill software and, should you need it, unlimited technical support for life. If you missed last month's issue of Monitor, we had 5 tips on measuring strain and offered you £ 300 off our strain measurement package. This offer is still available at https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/strain-measurement.html and you can read our strain tips in our newsletter archive at https://www.windmill.co.uk/monitor157.html We hope you find the newsletter useful, but should you wish to remove yourself from our mailing please go to Monitor Newsletter CONTENTS ======== * Windmill News: Windmill Launch Multi-Function Data Logger * Windmill Software Helps Determine Future Wheat Yields * Excel Corner: Automatically Starting Windmill from Excel * DAQ News Round-up ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Multi-Function Data Logger Launched ________________________________________________________ Windmill are very proud to announce the new Microlink 840 data logger. The culmination of 30-years of experience designing data acquisition and control systems has resulted in an extremely versatile, compact unit at just £395. Not only can Biodata's Microlink 840 datalogger monitor analogue transducers and digital sensors, it can also supervise alarm thresholds and output digital control signals The Microlink 840 communicates using Ethernet, so can be situated wherever you can connect to a network or the internet. It comes complete with Windmill software to configure the unit, log data and send control signals.What you can do with the Microlink 840 1. Monitor analogue transducers, including pressure, temperature, force, voltage and 4-20 mA current. 2. Monitor Digital Sensors, including flow meters. 3. Monitor Utility Meters, including electricity meters and gas meters. Logged data can be exported as Energy Lens compatible files, or as text files. 4. Machine monitoring, for instance you can record percentage on/off times and count items produced. 5. Digital status monitoring, for instance count switch closures. 6. Control digital outputs. 7. Sound alarms, for instance - Alarm on analogue level, on-off state or count - Output for switching audible or visual notification - Adjustable delay before alarm triggered - Combined alarm conditions - Alarms notified to a PC via a network For more information or to discuss your requirements, contact sales@biodataltd.com or visit https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/ethernet.html You can download the Microlink 840 Manual from the Microlink data logger site. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill Software Helps Determine Future Wheat Yields ________________________________________________________ Global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has increased by around 40% from the pre-industrial period to today. It is expected to increase by even more by the end of the century. This influences crop yields, and Spanish researchers are investigating the effect of CO2 concentration on wheat. As part of their experiments they are using Windmill software to log temperature and humidity in Greenhouses. The scientists sowed Durum wheat seeds at an experimental farm in Salamanca. The wheat was covered by six greenhouses. Three greenhouses were kept at today's level of CO2 and three at the elevated level predicted by the end of the century. It was important to measure, amongst other things, the temperature and humidity of the greenhouses. To do this the team connected HMDSO sensors, from Vaisala, to a 751 data acquisition unit. They plugged the 751 into a computer running Windmill Logger software. Logger took temperature and humidity readings every hour throughout the season. It timestamped the readings and saved them in text files ready for analysis. The 751 unit is currently reduced from £595 to £295 at https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/daq-usb.html. Further Reading =============== 751: Multi-Function Data Acquisition and Control https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/daq-usb.html Does ear C sink strength contribute to overcoming photosynthetic acclimation of wheat plants exposed to elevated CO2? J Exp Bot. 2011 Jul;62(11):3957-69. Epub 2011 Apr 21 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21511906 ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Automatically starting Windmill from Excel ________________________________________________________ Back in issue 58 of Monitor, we told you how Excel could automatically launch the Windmill programs. This tip still works, but under Windmill 7 Excel cannot open a file which is in the \program files\ directory. You therefore need to make sure that your setup files are stored elsewhere. The macro code to start Windmill from Excel is... Sub StartWindmill() Shell "C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\Windmill Software\Windmill\WMDDE.EXE" Application.Wait Now + TimeValue("00:00:02") End Sub The above code will start DDE Panel. If you have saved a configuration file you can load this at the same time, so DDE Panel would automatically start collecting data. For example: Sub StartWindmill() Shell "C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\Windmill Software\Windmill\WMDDE.EXE c:\windmill\siggen.wdp" Application.Wait Now + TimeValue("00:00:02") End Sub It is the *.wdp file which needs to be out of the \program files\ directory. To download a free trial of the Windmill software, which can send data readings directly to Excel, subscribe to our newsletter. For more Excel data acquisition tips see https://www.windmill.co.uk/excel/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ DAQ News Round-up ________________________________________________________ Welcome to our round-up of the data acquisition and control news. If you would like to receive more timely DAQ news updates then either grab our RSS newsfeed at https://www.windmillsoft.com/monitor.xml or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/DataAcquisition Redefining the kilogram and the ampere Groundbreaking research by the National Physical Laboratory's Quantum Detection Group and an international team of collaborators is underpinning the biggest change in the Systeme Internationale d'unites (SI Units) since the system began 50 years ago. Source: National Physical Laboratory http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/npl-rtk092811.php Wireless Test Equipment Market to Grow The proliferation of 4G technologies will give a huge boost to the wireless test equipment market in Europe, according to a new report from Frost and Sullivan. Source: Frost and Sullivan http://tinyurl.com/3z86rrz 'Pygmy shrew' robot navigates using tactile whisker sensors A new robotic system based on the Etruscan pygmy shrew can navigate by using tactile whisker sensors to build up a probabilistic map of its environment. Source: The Engineer https://www.theengineer.co.uk/1009914.article Windows 8 to Offer Native Bluetooth low energy and Wi-Fi Direct Microsoft has recently announced that its next operating system, Windows 8, will offer support for a range of new wireless connectivity standards, including Bluetooth low energy and Wi-Fi Direct. If PCs include both Windows 8 and the associated radios, this paves the way for them to connect to a wide range of devices without the need for an additional dongle. Source: IMS Research http://imsresearch.com/press-release/Windows_8_to_Offer_Native_Bluetooth_low_energy_WiFi_Direct_NFC_Support ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ * 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/monitorindex.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/
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