"strip chart recorder" on a PC??

[[email protected]]

I would like to input an analog signal into a PC and get an electronic
"strip chart" output. So far all I can find are complicated, dedicated
devices for industrial control. Is there a super-simple piece of
software (freeware/shareware?) that can do this? I have a number of
older analog devices that output data as a voltage over a period of
time (X-ray diffractometer/spectrometer, spectrophotometer) that are
very useful and sensitive instruments, but I would like to be able to
digitize their output for data analysis. Any help or suggestions will
be welcomed. Thanks.

Henry Barwood

 

[Gareth]

I would like to input an analog signal into a PC and get an electronic
"strip chart" output. So far all I can find are complicated, dedicated
devices for industrial control. Is there a super-simple piece of
software (freeware/shareware?) that can do this? I have a number of
older analog devices that output data as a voltage over a period of
time (X-ray diffractometer/spectrometer, spectrophotometer) that are
very useful and sensitive instruments, but I would like to be able to
digitize their output for data analysis. Any help or suggestions will
be welcomed. Thanks.

Henry Barwood

I have done something like that with a Pico ADC-10, see:

http://www.picotech.com/low-cost-data-loggers.html

There maybe some free software which uses the sound card audio input but
that is probably AC coupled and therefore not suitable if you require DC
accuracy.

Gareth.

--

 

[Chris]

I would like to input an analog signal into a PC and get an electronic
"strip chart" output. So far all I can find are complicated, dedicated
devices for industrial control. Is there a super-simple piece of
software (freeware/shareware?) that can do this? I have a number of
older analog devices that output data as a voltage over a period of
time (X-ray diffractometer/spectrometer, spectrophotometer) that are
very useful and sensitive instruments, but I would like to be able to
digitize their output for data analysis. Any help or suggestions will
be welcomed. Thanks.

Henry Barwood

Hi, Henry. If you want the quick newbie route, and you have a Windows
PC with a serial port, go down to Radio Shack and get their PC
Interface 46-Range Digital Multimeter Catalog #: 22-812 for $69.99.
It's got the Meter View software CD, which will give you a simple data
logger from your serial port. After setup through the menu, you just
plug in your meter, and you get a chart display, as well as data you
can either print out directly or export to Excel. For a real newbie,
it's the easiest way to do this. Note that if you need very fast
recording, you're limited by the speed of the interface (I don't think
you can do better than one reading a second on the RS-232 interface).
But if you don't need high speed, it's your best shot.

Good luck
Chris

 

[Ken Moffett]

[email protected] wrote in @v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

I would like to input an analog signal into a PC and get an electronic
"strip chart" output. So far all I can find are complicated, dedicated
devices for industrial control. Is there a super-simple piece of
software (freeware/shareware?) that can do this? I have a number of
older analog devices that output data as a voltage over a period of
time (X-ray diffractometer/spectrometer, spectrophotometer) that are
very useful and sensitive instruments, but I would like to be able to
digitize their output for data analysis. Any help or suggestions will
be welcomed. Thanks.

Henry Barwood

Check out:

http://www.dataq.com/

The DAQ's are relatively cheap and the software is free.

And you can's beat the 4ch/10bit:

http://www.dataq.com/products/startkit/di194.htm for $25

Or the 4ch/12bit for $40

And I think these two are available through Radio Shack too.