Log In   |   Sign up

New User Registration

Article / Abstract Submission
Register here
Register
Press Release Submission
Register here
Register
coolingZONE Supplier
Register here
Register

Existing User


            Forgot your password
August 2015

1000 Channel, Low Cost, Modular Data System Measures Temperature Using Thermocouples, Thermistors and RTD


the omega inet-400 system is a low cost card cage that attaches to windows computers via usb 2.0. the advantage of a card cage is that you can select which i/o modules to install as needed to build a customized system. 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 inet-400 topology is cost. after the 1st module is installed, additional inet-400 channels are conditioned at a very low cost per channel. inet-400 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.   the inet-400 supports a wide array of analog and digital inputs including:

 

  • thermocouple: j/k/t/e/r/s/b/n/c/g/d

  • thermistor: 2252 ω (omega 44000 series)

  • rtd: 100 ω , 500 ω , 1 kω platinum

 



omega_inet-400_series_l_480 

low cost 4/8/12/16-slot card cages
the inet-400 card cage provides 4 slots, and multiple inet-400’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 inet-400 with 4 slots is sufficient. 

the inet-400 card cage is 15 d x 11 w x 14 cm h (6 x 4.5 x 5.6") in size. the slots are numbered such that #1 is the left-most slot, #2 is to the right of #1, and so forth and so on. cards are held into position with jackscrews that are tightened with a slotted screwdriver. slot #1 is a special slot and is used to interface to a computer.

the inet-410 card slides into slot #1 and then cables to the computer via a db25 cable that connects to an instrunet controller. also, an inet-300 power adaptor cable is used to route power from an 
inet-312-8 desktop power supply to the inet-410 interface card in slot #1, which in turn routes that power to the card cage backplane (i.e. pcb at back of card cage that attaches to all cards). see pdf attached for illustrated diagram.

the inet-400 card cage needs at least one inet-430 a/d card if analog voltages are to be measured. the inet-430 cards includes an a/d converter and serves this purpose. the inet-420 and inet-423 cards contain various signal conditioning circuits and route signals along the backplane to the inet-430 for measurement. this happens automatically and does not require programmer intervention, other than insertion of cards and attaching end user signals to the card’s front panel connectors. 

inet-240 instrunet dsp card
each instrunet network is controlled by an instrunet dsp controller card that attaches to a microsoft windows computer. the inet-240 attaches to a free usb 2.0 high speed port (requires windows ≥ xp sp2). each 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. between 1 and 4 controllers can be installed, space permitting, since each controller operates independently. 

connect up to 8 inet-400 card cages
each instrunet network supports up to 8 instrunet inet-400 card cages. 

instrunet network
these devices are connected in a daisy-chain configuration to form a chain of devices. each network can be up to 300 meters long. all networks are anchored with an instrunet terminator at the far end, and an instrunet controller at the near end. this makes instrunet a cost effective method for designing large scale, high speed, multi-channel data acquisition systems. 

instrunet version ≥ 3.0 software requires windows xp, vista, 7 or 8 (xp/vs/7/8) computer with at least 256mb of ram memory and at least 256 mb of free disk space. the inet-240 usb controller requires 32-bit or 64-bit windows xp sp2 (service pack #2) or newer. 

inet-410 communications card
the inet-410 communications card connects an inet-400 card cage to a windows computer via an instrunet inet-240 usb controller. the inet-410 plugs into the left-most slot (slot #1) of an inet-400 card cage. one and only one inet-410 is required per inet-400 card cage when working with instrunet controllers. the inet-410 provides the following features:
• two db25 connectors allow daisy-chaining multiple inet-400 card cage devices to one instrunet    controller card.
• front panel red power light shows presence of 5v, 12v and -12v power.
• front panel green i/o light blinks when computer communicates with card cage.
• includes one db25 male to female 3 m (10') cable. 

inet-420 analog i/o module
the inet-420 provides 20 single-ended (se)/10 differential (di) voltage input channels and 4 universal digital i/o (20 ma sink, -10v to 30v) and requires the inet-430 a/d module to measure voltages. the inet- 420 connects directly to voltage, thermocouple, thermistor, rtd, load cell, strain gage, potentiometer, current and resistance inputs. 

inet-423 analog i/o module
the inet-423 provides 6 differential (di) voltage input channels, 4 universal digital i/o (20 ma sink,
-10 to 30v) and requires the inet-430 a/d module to measure voltages. the inet-423 connects directly to voltage, thermocouple, thermistor, rtd, load cell, strain gage, potentiometer, current and resistance inputs. each input channel passes through it’s own amplifier with a software selectable gain of 1 or 64 and optional low pass filter. the 8-pole inet-500 analog low pass butterworth filter daughter board is ideal for anti-aliasing. between one and six filter daughter boards can be installed onto each inet-423 card (one per channel). there are four different analog low pass filters, each with a different cut off frequency: inet-500-380hz, inet-500-1khz, inet-500-3300hz and inet-500-10khz. 

inet-430 a/d module
the inet-430 provides 16 single-ended (se)/8 differential (di) voltage input channels with a 16-bit a/d converter, 2 precision analog voltage outputs (±10v, 14-bit d/a), 2 analog voltage outputs (0 to 10 v output, 8-bit d/a) and 4 universal digital i/o (20 ma sink, -10 to 30 v). the inet-430 connects directly to voltage, thermocouple, thermistor, rtd, load cell, strain gage, potentiometer, current and resistance inputs. 

inet-460 digital i/o module
the 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). 

 

to learn more about the inet-400, please visit omega engineering at inet400-series web page.

Choose category and click GO to search for thermal solutions

 
 

Subscribe to Qpedia

a subscription to qpedia monthly thermal magazine from the media partner advanced thermal solutions, inc. (ats)  will give you the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information about the thermal management of electronics

subscribe

Submit Article

if you have a technical article, and would like it to be published on coolingzone
please send your article in word format to [email protected] or upload it here

Subscribe to coolingZONE

Submit Press Release

if you have a press release and would like it to be published on coolingzone please upload your pr  here

Member Login

Supplier's Directory

Search coolingZONE's Supplier Directory
GO
become a coolingzone supplier

list your company in the coolingzone supplier directory

suppliers log in

Media Partner, Qpedia

qpedia_158_120






Heat Transfer Calculators