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EX1629 Introduction
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S
ECTION
1
I
NTRODUCTION
O
VERVIEW
The EX1629 is a 48-channel high-performance strain gage measurement instrument. Its
combination of measurement performance and integrity, configuration flexibility, package density,
and network connectivity make it the most powerful, yet easy-to-use, instrument of its kind. The
EX1629 is a complete, self-contained strain measurement system that communicates over
Ethernet. Unlike other data acquisition offerings in its class, the EX1629 offers a tightly integrated
solution that frees the user from the complexity of marrying terminal blocks, signal conditioning
cards, digitizer, excitation source, and chassis together.
F
EATURES
A Complete High-Density Solution
The EX1629 provides 48 channels of strain conditioning, bridge completion, and excitation in a
single 19-inch rack-mount enclosure. Its density and integration simplify the task of assembling a
test station. Most applications require only the simple connection of power, Ethernet
communication, and input connections. Moreover, test consistency and reliability is greatly
increased because its base configuration requires no accessory modules or other equipment to be
connected or cabled together.
The design of the EX1629 provides full configuration flexibility, with all bridge completion and
excitation source configurations set programmatically. There is no need to manually reconfigure
hardware to make measurement changes.
The EX1629 can operate independently or, for large data acquisition applications, multiple
instruments can be synchronized via an external trigger bus. This design allows for numerous units
to be controlled by a single host computer by utilizing a programmable master-slave relationship.
Data Integrity
The design of the EX1629 placed paramount importance on maintaining data integrity under all
measurement conditions. Each input channel is an independent measurement system, with discrete
signal conditioning circuitry, excitation source, and 24-bit ADC. There is no sharing of source and
measurement circuitry or sampling bandwidth among input channels. This makes each channel’s
performance completely insensitive to the state of all other channels, whether they are in normal
operation, shorted, or overloaded.
Each channel is individually protected against shorts to ground, across the gage, or to another
gage, as well as overvoltage. Trifilar input transformers provide superior high-frequency common
mode noise rejection. Finally, an analog filter provides anti-alias protection for dynamic
applications.
