Introducing the USB-5201. Measurement Computing USB-5201

Chapter 1

Introducing the USB-5201

The USB-5201 provides eight differential thermocouple input channels and two integrated cold junction compensation (CJC) sensors. You can take measurements from type J, K, R, S, T, N, E, and B thermocouples.

An open thermocouple detection feature lets you detect a broken thermocouple. An on-board microprocessor automatically linearizes the measurement data.

Eight independent, TTL-compatible digital I/O channels are provided to monitor TTL-level inputs, communicate with external devices, and to generate alarms. The digital I/O channels are software programmable for input or output.

The USB-5201 features eight independent temperature alarms. Each alarm controls an associated digital I/O channel as an alarm output. The input to each alarm is one of the temperature input channels. The output of each alarm is software configurable as active high or low. You set up the temperature threshold conditions to activate each alarm. When an alarm is activated, the associated DIO channel is driven to the output state.

You can log your measurements to a CompactFlash

®

memory card. CompactFlash is a removable non-volatile storage device. A 512 MB CompactFlash memory card is shipped with the device to store your data. For more

information, refer to the section Logging data with the USB-5201 below.

The USB-5201 device is compatible with both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 ports. The speed of the device may be limited when using a USB 1.1 port due to the difference in transfer rates on the USB 1.1 versions of the protocol (low-speed and full-speed).

External power is required for data logging operations

Due to processing limitations, you cannot log data to the memory card when the USB-5201 is connected to your computer's active USB bus. When operating as a data logger, disconnect the USB cable from the computer, and connect the external power supply shipped with the device.

The USB-5201 is a standalone plug-and-play device. External power is required for data logging mode only. All configurable options are software-programmable. The USB-5201 is fully software-calibrated.

Logging data with the USB-5201

The USB-5201 has many software-selectable options for setting up data logging.

You can record:

 temperature (

° C) or raw data from selected input channels

 timestamp data

 CJC sensor readings

You can specify the number of seconds between samples. You can begin logging data at power up, when you press the data logging button, or at a specific date and time.

Data is stored on the memory card in binary files. After logging measurements, you can transfer the files to your computer. You can use InstaCal to convert the files to

.csv

format for use in Microsoft Excel files, or to

.txt

format for use in other applications.

6

USB-5201 User's Guide

Functional block diagram

USB-5201 functions are illustrated in the block diagram shown here.

Introducing the USB-5201

Figure 1. Functional block diagram

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