NI VB-8012 support for current probe readings

[ewilbur]

Does the VB-8012 support reading a current probe hooked to the o-scope BNC connector?

We have 10 of these benches set up for training and this unit has been superb for teaching the basics. I have a few labs I'd like to add that require a current probe, but based on my investigation, I doubt the GUI/hardware have support for this. But, in the case I am wrong (won't be the first time), I wanted to post this question on the forum to verify.

Thanks,

[DLarsen]

ewilbur,

As long as the current probes are providing a simple voltage to the BNC connector that will work. I've done this before; you'll have to scale the readings yourself though.  This is relatively easy to do in LabVIEW but unless I am mistaken, the GUI does not currently support this feature.

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Daniel Larsen

Digital Hardware Engineer

National Instruments

[ewilbur]

Thanks for the quick response. We aren't using LabView in the labs, so without GUI support (which is what I suspected), I don't think I can employ these new labs that require a current probe. This whole idea was a "nice to have" but not central to the learning. 

However, if there is someone out there that has found a back door via the GUI to use what the current probe provides on the scope channel, maybe there is still hope. But if I get a strong "NOPE", I will stop dreaming. 😉

[DLarsen]

ewilbur,

I just want to make sure it was clear that you can still see data coming from a current probe in the GUI, but it will show up as a signal in volts rather than automatically converting to amperes.

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Daniel Larsen

Digital Hardware Engineer

National Instruments

[ewilbur]

Thanks Daniel. Is there an easy manual conversion a student could make from volts to amps? I know using LabView might make this easier, but given other constraints, we can't use the software even though I begged. If there is an easy translation by hand, that would help. The fact that the data at least shows up on the scope is encouraging.

[DLarsen · Accepted solution]

ewilbur,

It depends on the current probes you are using, but in my experience it would just involve a multiply/divide.  Doing a quick search I found some current probes that have a 1 Volt/Amp output, so all a student would need to do with those is change the unit name, but there were some with less obvious conversion factors (2Volt/50Amp).  Some current probes also have different ranges which each have a different factor.

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Daniel Larsen

Digital Hardware Engineer

National Instruments

[ewilbur]

Thank you Daniel. I appreciate the assistance. Yes, I could have tried my own current probe and figured that out IF I had the equipment at my work location. I travel to teach this class, so I wasn't able to just "try it and see" which would have taken less time.

Thanks a ton. It looks like it will work with a minor simple conversion.

[petergeller]

Try intellisens i2 100A probe, it has its own software to interface results directly on PC. 

https://www.taraztechnologies.com/products/intellisens-smart-pc-usb-probes/