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Instruments can perform real-time power analyses
Published:  18 November, 2013

Yokogawa has launched a pair of portable instruments that can perform real-time measurement and analysis of electrical power variables. The ScopeCorder DL850E and the DL850EV (dedicated to vehicle applications) instruments combine the functions of a high-performance digital oscilloscope with those of a multi-channel data-acquisition recorder that can capture and analyse transient events and trends for periods of up to 200 days.

With the /G5 electrical power option, the instruments can perform trend calculations such as active power, power factor, integrated power and harmonics at data update rates up to 100kS/s using a dedicated digital signal processor that can calculate and display up to 126 types of electrical power-related parameter in real time. Users can view raw waveform signals, such as voltages and currents, along with calculated power parameters, and can trigger on any or all of them.

The instruments can display trend waveforms of each order of harmonics, as well as bargraphs and vector displays. Both RMS and power analysis modes are available, and the /G5 option can also perform real-time mathematical operations.

Yokogawa’s ScopeCorders are already used widely to measure, display and analyse physical quantities, alongside electrical signals. “Their potential range of applications has suddenly become much wider with the ability to take real-time power measurement and analysis to a new level,” says Terry Marrinan, Yokogawa Test & Measurement's vice-president for Europe and Africa.

Yokogawa's ScopeCorders can now measure, analyse and display a multitude of electrical parameters

Like other members of the ScopeCorder family, the new instruments can capture and analyse both transient events and trends over periods of time ranging from milliseconds up to 200 days, storing the acquired data in on-board memory or hard drives, or exporting it to an external PC.

Modular inputs allow the instruments to combine measurements of electrical signals, physical parameters from sensors, and data from CAN/LIN serial buses. A choice of 17 input modules can be used to configure up to 128 channels, allowing engineers to synchronise the measurement of different types of electrical and physical signals. A “dual capture” function allows transient signals to be captured during long-term measurements by recording at two different sampling rates.