This compact DIN-rail mounted unit has been designed to interface thermocouples, low level sensors and 4-20mA signals to data acquisition and process control systems
New from Audon Electronics is the TCA-4 budget-priced four-channel thermocouple amplifier unit.
This compact DIN-rail mounted unit has been designed to interface thermocouples, low level sensors and 4-20mA signals to data acquisition and process control systems.
The TCA-4 features four independent precision instrumentation amplifier channels, a thermocouple cold-junction compensation circuit and a wide input range power supply.
Channel gain and offset can be user adjusted via multi-turn presets; a gain range from 20 to over 1000 is achievable.
Alternatively the TCA-4 can be ordered with pre-calibrated gains to suit any thermocouple type, giving a nominal output of 10mV per degree.
An on-board temperature sensor mounted close to the input terminals can be used to apply cold junction compensation on a channel-by-channel basis.
It is therefore possible to mix-and-match thermocouple and low-level voltage signal types. The TCA-4 can be used with 4-20mA process control signals too.
A burden resistor is used to convert the 4-20mA current into a voltage, and the amplifier offset control is used to trim-out the static 4mA voltage component.
Hence it is possible to convert the 4-20mA signal to a zero to full scale voltage signal.
The TCA-4 can be powered from a single 5V supply or a 9-28V supply.
An on-board DC-DC converter provides a +/-15V supply to the amplifiers, giving a usable amplifier output range of over +/-13V.
The TCA-4 is reverse polarity and over-voltage protected in case of power supply or wiring errors.
