BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Last night's chat session consisted of David Steele (Elk's Chief Engineer), electron, smee and myself and the discussion turned to the ELk M1 Gold and its analog input capabilities.
I asked if the Elk could read analog values "directly" meaning if I placed a DC voltage on a zone input, and polled the device (via the serial port) I could get that current zone's voltage value. I would then see any change in that voltage during the next polling interval (which could be set by the user). The analog value is digitized with eight bit accuracy. The input voltage range is a maximum 14 volts (DC).
To prove this we had electron poll a zone set up as "Analog" in his Elk M1 Gold. He used terminal services as a test for communiating with Elk's serial port. He placed a worn out nine volt battery on the zone's input terminal (voltage measured 7.4 volts), polled for the device value, and registered 074 as the value.
Therefore you are able to "read" the present value of voltage on a zone set for "analog". This has some potential in the fact that you may be able to read various sensors "directly" that have an analog output voltage that is proportional to their particular measurement. For instance you may be able to read a CRMagnetics linear current sensor and use that zone as a current monitor, or maybe use a temperature probe and use that zone as a temperature monitor.
The only limitation would be in the resolution of the sensor and how it matched up to the Elk's 14 volt maximum input and eight bit resolution. Also, you would need to be able to have software that would poll these values for display in your computer system/software setup as well (if you want the real time readings displayed).
I asked if the Elk could read analog values "directly" meaning if I placed a DC voltage on a zone input, and polled the device (via the serial port) I could get that current zone's voltage value. I would then see any change in that voltage during the next polling interval (which could be set by the user). The analog value is digitized with eight bit accuracy. The input voltage range is a maximum 14 volts (DC).
To prove this we had electron poll a zone set up as "Analog" in his Elk M1 Gold. He used terminal services as a test for communiating with Elk's serial port. He placed a worn out nine volt battery on the zone's input terminal (voltage measured 7.4 volts), polled for the device value, and registered 074 as the value.
Therefore you are able to "read" the present value of voltage on a zone set for "analog". This has some potential in the fact that you may be able to read various sensors "directly" that have an analog output voltage that is proportional to their particular measurement. For instance you may be able to read a CRMagnetics linear current sensor and use that zone as a current monitor, or maybe use a temperature probe and use that zone as a temperature monitor.
The only limitation would be in the resolution of the sensor and how it matched up to the Elk's 14 volt maximum input and eight bit resolution. Also, you would need to be able to have software that would poll these values for display in your computer system/software setup as well (if you want the real time readings displayed).