Grosshansdorf, Germany. Spectrum Instrumentation announced it has added 12 new products to its family of LXI-based digitizerNETBOX data-acquisition instruments. Designed specifically for situations where multiple signals need to be acquired, stored, and analyzed, models provide 24, 32, 40, or even 48 fully synchronized channels. The new DN6.59x digitizers are all based on the latest high-resolution 16-bit ADC technology and come with a choice of maximum sampling rates (20, 40, and 125 MS/s) and bandwidths (10, 20, and 60 MHz) to best match applications found in a variety of industries. It’s a combination that makes these new instruments suitable for use in multichannel applications where signals, in the DC to 60 MHz frequency range, need to be acquired and analyzed with the highest precision and accuracy.
The signal-conditioning circuitry is further complemented by the high-resolution 16-bit ADCs, which offer signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to 81 dB, spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) up to 103 dB, and total harmonic distortion (THD) as low as -86 dB.
Oliver Rovini, CTO at Spectrum, said, “These new digitizerNETBOX systems offer an easy-to-use solution for anyone who needs to make accurate multichannel measurements. They should be of interest to everybody working with multiple signals, such as those produced by arrays of sensors, receivers, detectors, or antennas, and also to users who need to test signals from multiple electronic components or test points. As such, we believe the instruments will find wide application in areas such as ultrasound, laser, communications, lidar, radar, power, physics, automotive, medical, and materials science, as well as general electronic test and measurement.”
Controlling and accessing the data collected by the digitizerNETBOX is done by simply connecting it with GbE to a host computer (laptop or workstation) or anywhere on the corporate network. The platform is fully LXI compliant (following Core 2011 specifications) and offers an IVI-compatible interface for the IVI Scope and IVI Digitizer classes. Users can write their own control program using almost any popular language, including C++, LabVIEW, MATLAB, VB.NET, C#, J#, Delphi, Java, and Python code. Alternatively, users can simply run Spectrum’s own software, SBench 6 Professional.
SBench 6 Professional comes as standard with the digitizerNETBOX. It lets users control all the modes and settings of the hardware via a simple, easy-to-use, interface. The software is designed to support multichannel acquisitions and has a host of built-in features for waveform display, data analysis, and documentation.
To match nearly every application requirement, the units come with a variety of signal triggering techniques, large on-board memories, and a number of intelligent acquisition modes. All the channel inputs, as well as the external trigger inputs, can be used as a valid trigger source. These can even be combined with logical AND/OR functionality to allow pattern specific triggering. Acquisitions can be made in single-shot mode (for transient recording) or in other modes such as multiple recording, gated sampling or ABA (the combination of fast and slow continuous acquisitions) that allow the most efficient use of the on-board memory.
All digitizerNETBOX units are shipped factory tested and include SBench 6 Professional software, the complete SDK for Windows and Linux, and a full 5-year warranty. “The DN6.59x series products represent the latest in technology for users needing multichannel signal acquisition and measurement,” stated CEO Gisela Hassler. “Furthermore, they’re backed up with our industry leading warranty which includes software and firmware updates free of charge for the lifetime of the product. Support is done directly by our skilled in-house team of engineers—normally within a couple of hours after receiving the request.”