6
Getting Started with DT800
dataTaker
UM-0071-A0
CHAPTER 1
A
CQUISITION
? L
OGGING
?…
You really can’t avoid it — there’s just no way you can
afford to short-cut this chapter.
It’s quick to read, and it will make you comfortable
with some fundamental
dataTaker data acquisition and
logging concepts, terminology and conventions.
So read on…
1-1
I
MPORTANT
C
ONCEPTS
Your first job as you work through this tutorial-in-the-
form-of-a-user’s-guide is to familiarize yourself with the
following concepts.
Data Acquisition versus Data Logging
Data acquisition and data logging are NOT the same.
Traditionally, data
acquisition
has been defined as the
regular collection of data — scanning sensors, making
instantaneous measurements, then feeding these to a
recorder or computer.
Data
logging
has two possible definitions:
• It’s considered by some to be simply making a
permanent record of data that has been collected:
printing or plotting it, writing it on a sheet of paper,
or storing it on a computer’s hard disk or in
electronic memory.
• Others perceive data logging as the total operation
of collecting data and making a permanent record
of it. Therefore, they see data acquisition as part of
data logging.
Now, with
dataTaker, any distinction between these
two terms has become even more blurred because the
dataTaker DT800 combines acquisition and logging
(and much more) in a single instrument about the size
of a house brick.
So, when using your DT800, it’s important that you
treat acquisition and logging as two separate
functions.
dataTaker’s Acquisition Function
One of the DT800’s two basic functions is to read
sensors (that is, to measure, sample or scan sensors)
and present the values to you on a computer screen or
other display (Figure 1).
Although these readings can be used, say, to trigger
an alarm, they are temporary: the DT800 has not
recorded, stored or remembered them anywhere —
Summary of Contents for DT800
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