Since thermocouple outputs may be very low-level, signal conditioning can also be used to amplify the signal and offset any undesirable distortion due to noise. Signal conditioning is equally useful when portable data acquisition equipment is connected to other types of transducers such as strain gauges, accelerometers, etc.

Built-in Features for Remote Systems

Often portable data acquisition equipment, such as data loggers, are left to operate unattended for days or possibly years at a time. Data loggers are typically stand-alone instruments that, once set up, can measure, record and display data without operator or computer intervention. They are able to receive data from multiple inputs, even data from more than 100 channels simultaneously. Most data loggers feature built-in signal conditioning and can simultaneously record data from a variety of different sensors.

Portable data acquisition equipment selected for permanent unattended systems typically have communications capabilities using telephone connections or wireless systems for downloading data to remote computers, large amounts of built-in storage, and user interfaces for remote setup and control of the device. Sophisticated solutions offer built-in testing capabilities so that, once setup, a user simply needs to react to data acquired.