FAQ

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What are the main applications that the Black Lab is designed for?

Any application where it would be helpful or essential to perform data acquisition with a small light weight system that can be used with a Pocket PC. The Black Lab is easy to transport to a test site.

What Pocket PC’s can I use with the Black lab?

The key determining factor is whether the brand and model number has a serial communications RS232 capability. Go to Pocket PC’s for a current recommended list of Pocket PC’s that can be used with the Black Lab.Other considerations for this choice would be having the ability to download data using a SD card, size of the Pocket PC, protecting the Pocket PC with a robust case and any connecting cables. Finally consider what other uses you might have for the Pocket PC. That would help determine what applications and features you would like to see on the Pocket PC you purchase.

Why are there six channels available?  What if I need more?

Over the years we’ve learned that the number of channels people would like varies greatly. There is not one magic number that satisfies most users. We have included six in our standard Black Lab to keep the unit as small as possible and still provide enough channels to cover many portable testing needs. The Black Lab hardware is capable of 16 analog channels which will be implemented in another future version of the Black Lab. That unit will be a bit larger to accommodate the additional channels.

Can I interface to signal conditioning modules (i.e. 3B, 5B, etc.)

The Black Lab can be connected to almost any signal (conditioned or unconditioned) as long as the input voltage requirements are observed.  When special needs must to be met that only signal conditioning modules can satisfy, the Black Lab can be connected to them through the screw terminal connections. Depending on the type and number of modules and whether battery operation is needed, the Black Lab may also be able to power these modules. Because the modules are typically used in an industrial environment, it would be best to power the modules from another AC/DC power source and then connect the output signals to the Black Lab Connector Interface Module. Please consult the Technical Notes for further information.

What about faster sampling rates?

As with the number of channels needed, the sampling rates desired varies greatly.  We believe that being able to sample channels at 1000 samples per second will meet the needs of most users. 

What about interfacing to other software packages commonly used in the data acquisition industry?

The Black Lab software provides for direct storage of and provisions to convert to a .csv file (ASCII, readable) format which is importable into Excel and most any third party software analysis package. The capture acquisition mode stores data in this (ASCII) format. Other testing modes store data in a very efficient binary form (to minimize storage requirements) and would require conversion to allow importation to other packages. Conversion is very easy to do and provisions to do so exist in both the Pocket PC and desktop programs

Our philosophy is to concentrate on providing the best possible portable instrument and then make it easy at several points in the testing process to interface with other well designed and feature rich analysis products should you need them.

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