Table of Contents
Advertisement
Why ISO-Channel Technology is Your Best Return on
Investment
When connecting signal sources to an instrument, it is important to eliminate the sources of
error that can contribute to inaccuracies in your measurements. In most measurement
instruments, this burden is on the customer. Instruments that use ISO-Channel technology,
however, solve this problem for you – saving you tremendous setup and debug time and
reducing costly grounding problems when connecting signals.
In today's economy, we understand that every equipment decision needs to make good fiscal
sense. This section describes why instruments with ISO-Channel technology offer you the best
return on investment.
Understanding Ground Loops
When measuring signals, users often assume that the grounds of their signals and their
measurement system are at the same potential. However, these ground potentials can differ by
hundreds of millivolts.
If the difference in ground potential is large enough, current flows between the signal and
your measurement system; this is called a ground loop (see
contribute noise that can greatly affect the accuracy of your measurements, especially when
you are trying to measure low level signals precisely. Ground loop problems are the most
common source of error in all measurements! Eliminating these errors, therefore, is critical
when taking high accuracy measurements.
Figure 36: Measurement System with a Ground Loop
About ISO-Channel Technology
Figure
36). Ground loops
When a ground loop
exists, the measured
voltage, Vout, is the
sum of the signal
voltage, Vsource, and
the ground potential
difference, Vcm, which
exists between the
signal source ground
and the measurement
system ground. These
errors often appear as
transients or periodic
signals in the
measurement. For
example, if a ground
loop is formed with 50
Hz or 60 Hz AC power
lines, the unwanted AC
signal appears as a
periodic voltage error in
the measurement.
125
Advertisement
Table of Contents
