Spectrum analyser series performance boosted!

New 26.5 and 15 GHz RSA5000 Models Deliver Class-Leading Performance, Feature Set at Lowest Cost, Add 110 MHz Bandwidth Option

Tektronix now has the lowest cost real-time spectrum analyzer for mid-range performance, featuring the industry’s most advanced signal discovery and triggering capabilities. Included in the expansion of the RSA5000 Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer Series are new 26.5 GHz and 15 GHz models along with the recently-announced 110 MHz bandwidth option that is now available on all Tektronix Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers.

The growth of digital RF across a crowded wireless spectrum has led to the need for signal analyzers able to capture the briefest of spectrum occurrences to ensure proper operation and to avoid interference issues. At the same time, economic pressures have led customers to require a single instrument that can meet their demanding spectrum analyzer needs and be able to troubleshoot the problems unique to today’s transient, hopping signals. The new 26.5 GHz and 15 GHz RSA5000 Series models meet these needs with a leading balance of high-end performance and mid-range pricing.

“Now more than ever, RF engineers need spectrum analyzers with the frequency coverage required for today’s radios,” said Jim McGillivary, general manager of the Source Analyzer Product Line, Tektronix. “The RSA5000 Series hits the mark with a significant performance boost, a powerful real-time feature set and new 110 MHz bandwidth options that offer faster time to insight.”

Available for the first time in a mid-range spectrum analyzer, the 110 MHz bandwidth option is especially important because many of today’s wireless communications standards require engineers to see a wider frequency range. The wider bandwidth also enables uninterrupted signal monitoring or surveillance of frequency bands of interest.

Fast discovery of signal problems with DPX toolset
The revolutionary DPX spectrum display used in the RSA5000 Series offers an intuitive live color view of signal transients as they change over time in the frequency domain. This live display of transients is impossible with other signal analyzers. A number of advanced DPX features including swept DPX, gap-free DPX spectrograms, and DPX zero span with real-time amplitude, frequency, or phase make it easy to find troublesome signals under a variety of conditions.

Quick capture of anomalies enabled by unique triggering
The RSA5000 Series provides a comprehensive set of triggers essential for troubleshooting modern digitally implemented RF systems. These include time-qualified power, runt, density, frequency, and frequency mask triggers. Also included are a number of DPX triggers including the DPX density trigger that works on the measured frequency of occurrence and “trigger on this” that allows the user to point at the signal of interest on the DPX display.

Faster time to insight with correlation across multiple domains
The RSA5000 Series accelerates troubleshooting and analysis by pinpointing the root cause of problems in multiple domains. Engineers can analyze captured data across domains at any time using correlated markers. Time-correlated measurements can be made across frequency, phase, amplitude, and modulation domains. This is ideal for signal analysis that includes frequency hopping, pulse characteristics, modulation switching, settling time, bandwidth changes, and intermittent signals.

For deep troubleshooting and analysis, RSA5000 data captures can be used with SignalVu-PC software for offline analysis helping to free up test resources. Like the RSA5000, SignalVu-PC offers extensive vector signal analysis functionality spanning spectrum, spectrogram, and RF measurements including analog modulation analysis, adjacent channel power, CCDF, occupied bandwidth plus amplitude, frequency and phase vs. time. Options for more advanced analysis functions are also available including modulation, pulse, settling time, audio and flexible OFDM measurements.

Brazil's oil giant to host first remote operations management solution demo!

Fieldbus Foundation Announces First Field Demonstration of FOUNDATION™ for ROM Technology at Petrobras

The Fieldbus Foundation is to conduct a series of live field demonstrations showcasing its FOUNDATION™ for Remote Operations Management (ROM) technology. The first live demo of FOUNDATION for ROM is scheduled for April 30, 2013, at the Petrobras research and development facility (Cenpes) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Petrobras company executives and automation industry media will attend the event.

Fieldbus Foundation supplier members sponsoring the FOUNDATION for ROM demonstrations include: APA Technologies, 
AUMA, 
Azbil, 
Beka Associates Ltd., 
Belden, 
Biffi, 
Buerkert Werke, 
Emerson Process Management, 
Endress+Hauser, 
Festo Brazil, 
Fuji Electric, 
Honeywell, 
Invensys Operations Management, 
Leoni-Kerpen, 
Magnetrol, 
MTL, 
Pepperl+Fuchs, 
Phoenix Contact, 
R. STAHL, 
Rotork, 
Smar, 
StoneL, 
Turck, 
Westlock, and 
Yokogawa Electric Corporation.

The first development of its kind integrating remote input/output (I/O), ISA 100.11a, WirelessHART®, wired HART, and H1 fieldbus protocols into a single standard data management environment, FOUNDATION for ROM extends the capabilities of FOUNDATION fieldbus to countless wired and wireless devices installed in some of the world's harshest and most remote locations. This open, non-proprietary solution provides a unified digital infrastructure for asset management in applications ranging from tank farms and terminals to pipelines, offshore platforms, and even original equipment manufacturer (OEM) skids. Whether operating on a wired or wireless High Speed Ethernet (HSE) backhaul network, end users can pull device data into the FOUNDATION fieldbus infrastructure, which provides a single source of data management, diagnostics, alarms and alerts, data quality control, control-in-the-field capability, and object-oriented block structure.

Petrobras is interested in specifying FOUNDATION for ROM technology for the ambitious projects it is undertaking in the upstream and downstream hydrocarbon industry. The company has a record-setting $224 billion capital spending plan through 2015, with most of the investments targeted at the upstream sector on the highly publicized Pre-Salt area of the Santos Basin.

The Petrobras Centro de Pesquisas Leopoldo Américo Miguez de Mello, also known as Cenpes, is the largest oil and gas research center in the Southern Hemisphere. At the facility, a series of tests will be conducted with a FOUNDATION for ROM system installed on a distillation process pilot plant to evaluate the use of fieldbus-based ROM devices with wireless protocols for remote applications.

Miguel Borges, who is employed at the Cenpes facility, believes FOUNDATION for ROM can be an enabling technology for remote applications on Petrobras' offshore platforms. "The Fieldbus Foundation's ROM solution is attractive to us, since we want to gain access to diagnostic information from devices installed at our remote sites," Borges said. "Petrobras is committed to investing in this type of technology, and is seeking the most effective solutions available in the marketplace."

Reliance Industries (India) has also agreed to host FOUNDATION for ROM field demonstrations and additional end user demonstrations in Japan, the Middle East and Europe are being planned.

According to Fieldbus Foundation Director of Technology Development Dave Glanzer, the Petrobras field demonstration will offer a look at the full functionality of FOUNDATION for ROM, including wireless device integration, remote I/O integration, and wireless backhaul capabilities.

"This demonstration is the first step to show the capabilities of FOUNDATION for ROM before it is specified for commercial projects," said Glanzer. "The ROM solution enables end users to diagnose, either locally or remotely, the condition of their automation assets and then optimize predictive and preventive maintenance strategies."

He added, "While industrial organizations deal with shrinking operations and maintenance personnel and assets being deployed in remote locations, remote operations management is quickly becoming a critical application. Experience has shown that a comprehensive remote operations management solution enables manufacturers to respond faster to market conditions, increase efficiency, reduce downtime, and achieve higher production availability."

Fieldbus Foundation supplier members sponsoring the FOUNDATION for ROM demonstrations include: APA Technologies, AUMA, Azbil, Beka Associates Ltd., Belden, Biffi, Buerkert Werke, Emerson Process Management, Endress+Hauser, Festo Brazil, Fuji Electric, Honeywell, Invensys Operations Management, Leoni-Kerpen, Magnetrol, MTL, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, R. STAHL, Rotork, Smar, StoneL, Turck, Westlock, and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.

High-accuracy 130A and 150A current transducers

LEM has introduced the LA 130-150 series of current transducers for use in motor drives, inverters, power supplies and general industrial applications. These printed-circuit board (PCB) mounted devices share a common, compact case outline, and are available to measure nominal full-scale currents of 130 and 150 ARMS. Thanks to the application of LEM's established expertise in Closed-Loop Hall Effect transducer technology, the LA 130-150 series offers high-accuracy, extremely linear measurements at a very competitive price.

The new series series measures DC, AC, and pulsed currents, providing an output in the form of a current signal proportional to the measured (primary) current. Two conversion ranges – a factor of 1000 or 2000 – are offered, with two mounting styles; the transducers can be supplied with an open aperture through which the current carrying the primary current is routed: or they can be supplied ready-fitted with a primary conductor that will connect direct to the host PCB. Within the 33.5(H) x 37(W) x 16(D)mm outline, the conductor aperture is a generous 13.5 x 10 mm. In form, footprint and function the LA 130-150 series is backward-compatible with LEM's prior-generation devices.

These transducers feature a wide maximum bandwidth of DC to 150 kHz (-1dB point) and an accuracy of better than 0.5% at the primary nominal RMS current and at ambient temperature. Typical linearity error is ±0.1% at nominal current and the maximum offset temperature drift is ±0.46% of nominal current from -40 to +85˚C. The Closed-Loop Hall-effect technology results in zero insertion losses and a fast response time of less than 500 nsec.

The LA 130-150 series will find application at multiple points within variable-speed AC motor and servo motor drives; in static converters for DC motor drives; monitoring currents in battery-supply installations, and in uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs); in specialist power supplies, for example, welding PSUs; and in switch-mode power supplies in general, together with a wide range of other industrial, domestic-appliance and HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) applications.

Safety has been addressed as a primary design objective by LEM's engineers. Large creepage and clearance distances of 8 mm, together with a high CTI (Comparative Tracking Index) of 600 provide a high level of safety insulation with an isolation test voltage of 4.3 kVRMS at 50Hz for 1minute.

The LA 130-150-P series, is CE marked, comes with a five-year warranty, and conforms to the EN50178 standard.

TFT Indicators

Display implements industry standard resolution and interface

KOE Europe has announced the addition of a new high performance 15” TFT to its range of Lite+ LCD display modules. The TX38D18VM2BAA is a transmissive mode display with XGA (1024 x 768 pixels) resolution. KOE’s recently introduced range of Lite+ modules are designed and constructed using the latest display technology, components and materials to ensure a cost effective display solution is achieved.

The 15" display has a high brightness rating of 1200cd/m² which is achieved with a white LED backlight that provides 50K hours of operation to half brightness lifetime. A contrast ratio of 700:1 ensures clear, concise image reproduction.

Mark Stephenson, Technical Product Manager, KOE Europe commented, “The new Lite+ product range provides customers with displays featuring exceptional optical performance and product quality while ensuring a commercially viable display solution. Our strategy is to offer technology leading display products that are ideally suited to operation in many varied applications including high ambient light environments.” He continued, “Some of the key features of Lite+ displays are high brightness, long life LED backlights and high contrast ratios that enable display images that are bright with excellent colour definition. Lite+ display modules also implement industry standard display resolutions and data interfaces to aid and simplify the design in and integration process.”

The TX38D18VM2BAA supports a 20-pin, single channel LVDS interface which offers a user selectable option of 6-bit or 8-bit RGB data to provide a 262K or 16.7M colour palette respectively. The display module has mechanical outline dimensions of 326.5mm (w) x 253.5mm (h) x 11.5mm (d). An extended operating temperature range of -30°C to +80°C enables the TX38D18VM2BAA to be used in harsh environment applications.

Suitable for digital signage, point of sale, ticketing, check-in and kiosk applications the new 15.0” Lite+ TFT display module is supplied through KOE Europe’s distribution partners and is available across Europe immediately.

Critical industrial power systems are now doubly protected

Emerson Network Power has announced that its industrial uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) now generate and broadcast self-diagnostic data for acquisition by Emerson Process Management’s AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager asset management software. This new capability enables the continuous monitoring of critical systems required for predictive maintenance in process industry plants, as well as offshore facilities, oil and gas terminals and power generation systems. With continuous visibility to UPS performance, plant managers can prevent possible downtime from UPS component wear or in the unlikely event of failure.

The Emerson Network Power solution provides information on UPS performance via the PROFIBUS DP protocol to a plant’s distributed control system (DCS) and AMS Device Manager software. Integration of the field-generated data is seamless, and alerts are issued when the performance of any specific asset falls below established norms. Managers instantly have the information they need to determine where, and how soon, maintenance should be performed, providing the predictive maintenance critical to efficient industrial maintenance. Additionally, the graphic interface is intuitive, easy-to-understand, and has a look and feel consistent with all other assets in the facility.

Emerson Process Management’s AMS Device Manager displays clearly show which assets need attention using consistent terminology to classify alerts categorised by severity. The most severe alerts require immediate attention by a maintenance technician, with the possibility of receiving remote support from Emerson experts worldwide. In all cases, detailed instructions are given for troubleshooting and repair procedures.

"UPS systems are extremely durable – built to back up industrial power systems reliably for up to 60 years. Plant maintenance personnel feel very secure about these systems and don’t get much chance to practice troubleshooting or making repairs," said David Vasselin, Vice President of Business Development at Emerson Network Power’s Chloride Industrial Power business. "This can create a situation if a component part does degrade or fail. However, our AMS Device Manager solution keeps track of the UPS for them and issues alerts with step-by-step guidance on how to solve the issue. This adds another layer of value to these backup power supplies."

Vasselin said the integration of Chloride’s industrial UPS with AMS Device Manager provides users with real-time condition monitoring, packaged with the maintenance information they need. "It is cost-effective insurance against an unexpected power outage where losses can run into the millions of dollars per day."

High pressure switches

Premium high pressure switch for industrial, drilling, transportation, HVAC and manufacturing applications

Honeywell has introduced its Pressure Switches, High Pressure Premium, HPS Series, the only pressure switches available in the industry with a two million life cycle rating, IP67 environmental sealing, and multiple port and termination options that improve equipment uptime, simplify rapid design and assembly, and reduce total production costs for Honeywell’s OEM customers. The HPS Series are durable, reliable electromechanical gauge pressure on/off switches that are available with either single pole single throw (SPST) normally open or normally closed circuitry, or single pole double throw (SPDT) circuitry. They are designed for use in rugged transportation and industrial applications that require the making or breaking of an electrical connection in response to a pressure change of the system media., configurable pressure switch.

“The High Pressure Premium is the first in a new portfolio of configurable pressure switches that are designed utilizing a building block approach that enables easy, rapid assembly,” said Wade Tollison, senior global product marketing manager for Honeywell Sensing and Control. “This method allows Honeywell to quickly provide sample and production units to our customers, meet our customers’ design requirements without incremental tooling charges, reduce our customers’ production costs, and reduce design and implementation costs of our customers’ end product. Additionally, the HPS Series’ reliability and durability allow our customers to increase productivity while reducing field failures and service costs.”

These switches offer several features that make them well-suited for use in rugged industrial and transportation applications, including:
• Wide pressure switching point range of 150 psi to 4500 psi [10.34 bar to 310.26 bar]
• Outstanding proof pressure rating of 10000 psi [689.48 bar] and burst pressure rating of 20000 psi [1378.95 bar] reduce field failures
• Industry-leading IP67 sealing rating ensures media ingress will not create switch failure—useful in applications where the switch is splashed with fluid or is temporarily immersed, enhancing reliability and durability
• Compatibility with a variety of media including petroleum-based hydraulic fluids (engine oil, gasoline, diesel, transmission fluid, etc.), pressurized air, water, mineral oil-based brake fluid, and more enhance durability in tough environments
• A wide selection of terminations including spade terminals, screw terminals, Deutsch DT04-3P, AMP Superseal 1.5, cable, cable with Deutsch DT04-3P, cable with AMP Superseal 1.5, cable with Packard Metripak 150, cable with DIN 4365D-C, cable with M12 x 1, and 150 mm cable with Packard weatherpack male terminal, as well as numerous port types including 1/2-20 UNF, M14 x 1.5, 9/16-18 UNF, and 3/4-16 UNF allow customers the ability to configure the switch to meet their application needs
• An operating temperature range of -40 °C to 120 °C [-40 °F to 248 °F] allows for use in a variety of environments

Potential transportation applications include heavy duty construction machinery, agricultural machinery, and material handling machinery. Potential industrial applications include CNC machines, compressors, boilers, fracking equipment, mud pumps, presses, punches, pressure washers, trash compactors, water jet cutting machines, and any machinery that use high pressure hydraulic fluids.

The HPS Series switches feature a switching point accuracy of up to ±2%, providing efficient operation of equipment. Their switching capability of 5 mA to 5 A allows for potential use in a wide range of applications, from heavy loads to those connected to an electronic control unit. Additionally, Honeywell’s global presence offers customers immediate product and application support throughout the development cycle, from design to global manufacturing.

Process automation training on line

Krohne now offers a free online training tool focusing on various elements within the area of industrial process measurement. Published on the ILIAS learning platform, the Krohne Academy online consists of electronic learning content with full audio.

Project Manager, Steffen Brauers, explains "The Krohne Academy online is not intended to replace the "normal" Krohne Academy seminars, but rather to supplement them. The learning content on the online platform can be accessed anytime anywhere, so learning becomes more flexible for the participant and nothing has to wait until the on-site seminar."

As with the seminars, the content of the online Academy is commercial-free and allows for discussion and interaction with our experts on specific issues. There are key courses on technology for suspended materials, vortex frequencies, ultrasound and mass flow, and there are also courses on basic principles in the area of gas measurement or leak detection in pipelines. The courses stand out for their clear structure, starting with the measuring principles themselves and moving on to interpretations, advantages and limitations, then applications and industries where the measuring principle is applied - each course covers all the relevant areas. After a short evaluation, the participant can even request a certificate. No previous knowledge is required for the web-based training, however a certain level of technical understanding is helpful.

The learning material is free, with unlimited use, and is available in four languages: English, German, French and Chinese.

The Krohne Academy Online is aimed both at staff in practical roles, who come into contact with a wide variety of measuring principles daily, and at students or anyone else with an interest in the subject, wanting to ensure they are up to date with measuring processes and applications in technical facilities. Registration is free.