Easy as child’s play – measuring power with the new LMG640
Applications for power analysis are as varied as the uses of electricity itself, and the utilized instruments need to take this variety into account. The resulting multitude of features challenges the user to quickly single out the desired settings and results among an abundance of available information.
Clarity, simplicity and flat menu hierarchies were top priorities when conceiving the user interface new LMG640 – without compromises regarding the feature set and precision of the results. The goal was to drastically shorten the time to familiarize oneself with the unit, to reduce training effort and minimize the risk of operating errors. To make navigating easier, a touchscreen has been introduced in order to evoke the corresponding configuration menu for any displayed item simply by touching it. Leafing through different views is equally simple, slightly tapping the tabs at the upper edge of the screen will do. In case the touchscreen is not used, a mouse can be connected via USB port, in addition the built-in display of the LMG640 can be complemented or even replaced by an external screen.
In order to better focus on selected values or even highlight them, individual views (“custom menus”) can easily be defined. The desired values are displayed in the preferred form, and all irrelevant data gets suppressed. The layout can be adapted exactly in accordance with the requirements of the application at hand and individual preferences. To this end, tables, graphs and bar charts can be freely combined and enhanced e.g. with depictions of the unit under test and wiring diagrams. Custom views can quickly and easily be put together via drag-and-drop, in line with most familiar PC software tools.
The integrated script editor allows to calculate and display further parameters derived from the measured ones, also those can become part of the custom views. Thus the analysis of an electric motor can be illustrated with the obtained efficiencies, or the core losses of magnetic components can be displayed right next to their electric properties – the possibilities are almost unlimited.
Like its “older brother“, the LMG670, also the LMG640 is equipped with the unique DualPath technology, which allows simultaneous narrow- and broadband measurements thanks to its novel double-ADC concept – without aliasing, without wasting time, without dubious digital post-processing.
The LMG640 can flexibly be equipped with up to four power channels (resp. three channels plus one I/O card e.g. to capture speed and torque) to cover a multitude of diverse measurement applications. Customers can choose from three different channel types to suit the application’s requirements for precision and bandwidth - and can combine them in one chassis. The highest achievable precision is at 0.015% of measured value plus 0.01% of maximum peak value, the maximum bandwidth reaches 10MHz.
The outstanding common mode rejection of >120dB protects against erroneous results even when measuring frequency converters, and the optimal adjustment between voltage and current channels guarantees highest precision even for high-frequency applications and very small power factors.
ZES ZIMMER Electronic Systems GmbH
ZES ZIMMER Electronic Systems GmbH, Oberursel is a high-tech enterprise which specializes in the development and production of high-precision power analyzers for measurement and analysis of electrical power, energy, harmonics and flicker. The company was founded in 1980 by Dipl.-Ing. Georg Zimmer, and has since developed into a worldwide leading provider of power analysis technology. Fifteen highly specialized R&D engineers are transforming ever newly emerging market requirements into high-precision test & measurement solutions.