Data Loggers for Force or Strain

Application Notes

We offer data loggers that are suitable for direct measurement of load cells or strain gauges. They can supply a voltage or current excitation signal and provide programmable gain and scaling for low level signals elimination the need for any external signal conditioning. This can greatly simplify system design and wiring as well as reduce the power requirements for remote, portable or mobile applications. We have models that support sample rates up to 50 kHz for measurement of dynamic loads as well as models for measurement of static or slowly changing loads.


Strain Gauge and Load Cell Data Loggers

  • General Purpose Data Loggers suitable for strain gauge and load cell measurements
    • dataTaker DT80 Series - Up to 5 Inputs with USB, Serial and Ethernet Interfaces
    • dataTaker DT800 - Up to 12 Inputs with Ethernet and Serial Interfaces
    • dataTaker DT50 Series
    • dataTaker DT500/DT600 Series - Up to 30 Inputs with Serial Interface
    • Grant Squirrel SQ2020/SQ2040 - Up to 32 Inputs with USB Interface
    • KineticSystems DAQ500/ DAQ700 Series - High Speed with up to 64 Inputs and Ethernet Interface
    • Nimtech FrontDAQ - High Speed with 20 Inputs and an A/D per Channel
General Purpose Data Loggers suitable for voltage or current measurements
dataTaker DT80 Series Data Loggers

dataTaker DT80 Series
The DT80 series data loggers have ±30-Volt input range with a built-in display and a USB memory slot for easy data transfer. The DT80 Series are stand-alone data loggers that connect to a PC via Ethernet, USB, or RS-232. It's five input channels can accept up to five full, half/quarter bridges with current or voltage excitation.

DT80   5 to 15 analog inputs, 12 digital channels, 1 serial sensor channel

DT81   1 to 3 analog inputs, 4 digital channels, 4 counter channels

dataTaker DT800 Data Logger

dataTaker DT800
The DT800 data logger is has 12 to 42 analog input channels, 16 digital channels, and 1 serial sensor channel. The DT800 stores up to 130,000,000 data points and has an ATA Flash card slot for removable data storage. With 12 input channels, the DT800 can accept up to 18 full, or 30 half/quarter bridges with current or voltage excitation.

dataTaker DT50 Series Data Loggers

dataTaker DT50 Series
The DT50 series data loggers have up to 5 low-voltage input channels that are suitable for strain gauge or load cell measurements. The DT50 series data loggers also have digital and counter inputs, stores up to 130,000 points in internal memory, and require an RS-232 port for connection to a PC. The DT50's five input channels can accept up to five full, or 12 half/quarter bridges with current or voltage excitation. The DT51 can measure one full, half or quarter bridge.

DT50   5 to 10 analog inputs, 5 digital channels, 3 counter channels, SRAM PC Card slot for Removable Data Storage

DT51   1 to 3 analog inputs, 4 digital channels, 3 counter channels

dataTaker DT500/600 Series Data Loggers

dataTaker DT500/DT600 Series
The DT500/DT600 series data loggers have 10 to 30 analog input channels with 4 digital channels and 3 counter channels. Each store up to 1,390,000 data points and have an SRAM PC card slot for removable data storage. With 10 analog input channels, the DT500/600 series can accept 10 full bridges or 27 half/quarter bridges. An option expansion module provides additional inputs for up to 30 full bridges.

DT500   ±2.5 V Input Measurement Range

DT505   ±100 V Input Measurement Range

DT600   ±2.5 V Input Measurement Range, with built-in display

DT605   ±100 V Input Measurement Range, with built-in display

Grant Grant Squirrel SQ2020/2040 Series Data Loggers

Grant Squirrel SQ2020/SQ2040 Series
The Grant Squirrel SQ2020/SQ2040 series data loggers are capable of sub-second logging and concurrent sampling. With 16 MB of internal memory, the Grant Squirrel SQ2020/SQ2040 series data loggers can log approximately 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 readings that can be downloaded to a removable MMC memory card. Inputs can be used with thermistor, thermocouple and RTD temperature sensors and 4-20mA instruments. The SQ2020 supports up to 8 full/half/quarter bridges and the SQ2040 accepts up to 16 full/half/quarter bridges.

SQ2020-1F8   Up to 16 analog inputs with a single ADC

SQ2020-2F8   Up to 16 analog inputs with two ADC's

SQ2040-2F16   Up to 32 analog inputs with two ADC's

SQ2040-4F16   Up to 32 analog inputs with four ADC's

Kinetic Systems DAQ400/DAQ500 Series Data Loggers

KineticSystems DAQ500/DAQ700 Series
The portable KineticSystems DAQ500/DAQ700 Series data loggers have 4 to 64 channels that are compatible with full, half and quarter bridge sensors. The KineticSystems DAQ500/DAQ700 Series data loggers can interface to a PC or operate standalone, and stores data on a removable CompactFlash™ card. It supports sample rates of up to 50-kHz aggregate.

DAQ504   4 Input channels with excitation, programmable gain, selectable filter and 50 kHz aggregate sample rate

DAQ518   18 Input channels 16 general purpose with fixed gain and 2 with excitation, programmable gain, selectable filter. 50 kHz aggregate sample rate.

DAQ700   Up to 10 Channels with programmable gain, selectable filter and 50 kHz aggregate sample rate

DAQ720   Up to 32 Channels with programmable gain, selectable filter and 50 kHz aggregate sample rate

Nimtech FrontDAQ Data Logger

Nimtech FrontDAQ
The Nimtech FrontDAQ data logger has 20 analog input channels with excitation and support for full, half and quarter bridges, 20 digital channels and 4 analog outputs. The Nimtech FrontDAQ data logger can sample at 7.7 kHz per channel and store data to CompactFLASH™ memory. The Nimtech FrontDAQ data logger is network-ready and incorporates an internal web server for setting up and viewing data.