Portable data acquisition and analysis recorder

Astro-Med Inc. in West Warwick, R.I. is offering a portable data-acquisition and analysis recorder for power quality analysis called the Dash 8Xe. The unit supports as many as eight channels of inputs for single- and three-phase power monitoring applications. The unit records and reviews various power events, such as interrupts, swells, sags, harmonics, unbalance and power using custom monitoring software for power analysis. The Dash 8Xe captures data to internal hard drive at a fixed sample rate of 6,250 Hz, which permits harmonic analysis up to the 50th harmonic while maximizing the duration of an acquisition stored on the hard drive. In Transient Mode, high-speed glitches and other anomalies are captured at a sample rate of 200 kHz per channel. The Dash 8Xe can log events in parallel with data recording. Event types that can be logged include power interrupts, sags, swells, transients, frequency deviations, total harmonic distortion, individual harmonic, individual interharmonic and unbalance. In addition, events such as power factor, absolute power, active power, and reactive power can also be logged. The unit has a 15-inch monitor for touch-screen control and real-time data viewing and analysis. Simple menus permit the user to set most parameters using button and checkbox controls. For more information contact Astro-Med online at www.astro-med.com/power.