Plug-and-play data acquisition for USB PCs

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 2, 2000

Data Translation today announced the DT9800-EC Series, a family of multifunctional data acquisition modules that brings true plug-and-play data acquisition to PCs with Universal Serial Bus ports

Data Translation today announced the DT9800-EC Series, a family of multifunctional data acquisition modules that brings true plug-and-play data acquisition to PCs with Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports.

These modules have mass termination connections that fit standard signal conditioning racks, and are expandable by using additional USB ports.

"USB users no longer need to open up the chassis of their computers to install boards," said Nigel Doe, UK Sales Manager for Data Translation.

"Our new DT9800-EC Series stands for Oeasy connect�.

It allows engineers to quickly build a test and measurement solution using off the shelf standard signal conditioning components and it eliminates the annoying installation and configuration part of the process." The USB is a new standard for connecting computers to peripheral devices, such as printers, mice and modems, and was developed to make more low-cost ports available for the burgeoning number of these devices.

USB ports are standard on most new computers.

Doe continued, "Four different board configurations provide a range of flexible, cost-effective options for all general purpose data acquisition.

Included in the package is a free data acquisition application so that users can set up quickly and take useful measurements almost immediately." The DT9800-EC Series includes a variety of different configurations: DT9801-EC is a 12-bit, 16SE / 8DI, with a +/-10 and 0-10 Volt analog input range.

DT9802-EC is the same with additional 2, 12-bit DC level +/-10.0V analog outputs.

DT9803-EC is a 16-bit input version of the DT9801-EC.

DT9804-EC is a 16-bit input version of the DT9803-EC.

Data Translation's DT9800-EC Series for the PC is a true plug-and play system.

One cable supplies both power and all connections to the USB module.

A hot-swapping capability allows users to plug and unplug while their PC is on with no rebooting required.

It also contains mass termination connections for industry standard cabling to plug right into standard signal conditioning racks or into the user�s own cabling.

In addition to the standard DT9800-EC Series that connects directly to standard isolated signal conditioning racks, Data Translation is offering a full series of an isolated version called the DT9800-EC-I Series.

The DT9800-EC-I Series provides 500V isolation protection for the PC.

Each DT9800-EC Series module is shipped with a USB cable, a CD-ROM containing DT-Open Layers-compliant drivers for Microsoft Windows 98/Windows 2000(NT 5.0), a software calibration utility, Quick DataAcq application, and a comprehensive user�s manual in PDF form.

Pricing, Availability and Support The DT9800-EC Series is available now.

Pricing is as follows: DT9801-EC is £595.00, the DT9802-EC is £675.00, the DT9803-EC is £825.00 and the DT9804-EC is £895.00.

The EC-I version is priced at £85 more per unit.

Technical support is available when needed.

Extensive information is available 24 hours a day at the company web site, including drivers, example code, bug fixes, connector information, a searchable KnowledgeBase, and much more.