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Ultrasonic Signal Conditioners 40Khz

  • (Size 50 x 50 x 15 mm)

Signal conditioners help bridge the gab between the monitoring device and the sensor. Ultrasonic Signal Conditioners are composed of a driver and an amplifier. The driver possesses adequate strength to excite the transducer. And the amplifier boosts the amplitude of the returning or received signal, so that it can be monitored using an ordinary analog to digital converter.

The illustration below shows the basic building blocks of the Ultrasonic Hexamite Signal Conditioners. Input is fed through a capacitor and clamped before it is conditioned for amplification. Amplification is typically about 1000 and the signal is made available at the output through a capacitor.

Electrical Specification

Color Function

Parameters

Red Supply

[ 0 < Vsupply < 16 ] @ 100mA max

Orange Analog Out

0 < V(p-p) < 16

Yellow Pulse In

Low: V < 2.5 * High: V > 0.8

Green Return (GND)

0

Tx Wire (shielded) Sensor Actuation (drive)

V(p-p) ~ 6 * Vsupply

Rx Wire (shielded) Sensor Monitor

Signal input (micro volts)

The following illustrations show how the Hexamite signal conditioner can be utilized.  A user provided Pulse generator should output a train of pulses of frequency somewhere within the bandwidth specified for this particular sensor. If the sensor is a 40Khz sensor then the period between the components of the pulse train should be around 25 microseconds. The number of pulses in the train can vary depending on the application, 20 to 40 pulses at the resonance frequency of the sensor is usually enough for full excitation of the sensor. After the pulse train has entered the Power Boost Driver, it may be necessary to wait a few milliseconds for the result from the pulse train to be echoed back to the sensor. The sound travels 344m/s hence if the surface creating the echo is 10 m away, it will take the signal about 60 mS to travel to the surface and back. Therefore train pulse repetition should not exceed 16 times per second.

Below the RX and the TX lines are connected together, here the transducer is a single transceiver. The excitation is about a million times more powerful than the echo that needs to be detected. It can take some time for the sensor to settle after excitation, typically a few milliseconds. 

The illustration below does not use a transceiver like the image above, in this case the transmitter and receiver are separated.

Connecting a Miniature Sensor

Connecting a miniature sensor to the signal converter needs to be done with care. The wire extending from the soldering point indicated by the error on the image to the right, needs to be connected to the shield. The other wire is connected to the core of the coaxial cable coming from the signal conditioner.

Connecting the Canned version

This is fairly easy. Connect the pin that is soldered to the can to the shield, and the other pin to the core.

Connecting other sensors

Other sensors have shielded cables extending from the back. The connection is straight forward, connect the shield to the converter shield and the core to the converter core.

WARNING if the device is reverse polarized or if the Absolute Maximum Ratings are violated, device can be damaged.

ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM RATINGS

Ambient temperature during operation

-40°C to +125°C

Storage temperature

-65°C to +150°C

Voltage on the Red wire with respect to the green wire 

-0.2 < V <17V

Current in or out of all wires except Red or Green

< | 20mA |

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Copyright © 1999 [Hexamite]. All rights reserved. Revised: December 16, 2016 .

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