Performance. Reliance. Brilliance.

Inspired by the enduring power of a brilliant star, the California Instruments Asterion line of AC power sources by AMETEK Programmable Power combines intelligence and flexibility to create an advanced platform of AC solutions. This easy-to-configure design features sophisticated technology for delivering high performance, programmable AC and DC power. Its sleek design packs maximum power density into a low-profile form factor with an intuitive touch screen interface placing that power at your fingertips. Centralized control and unparalleled modularity make Asterion the most adaptable platform on the market. Its groundbreaking capabilities set the standard for affordable, precision power sources.

Creating a multi-phase system with single-phase Asterion AC power sources is simple, but there are several options available for control and communications. Configuring parallel groups of Asterion AC power sources is also straightforward. This technical note provides the required information to successfully configure your Asterion AC in multi-phase or parallel groups with the available communication options.

Advanced Features

For many structural engineers, the VTI Instruments EX1403 Precision Bridge and Strain Gauge Instrument from AMETEK Programmable Power is the go-to solution for complex test applications. One reason why is that it’s very easy to programmatically configure the built-in strain gauge excitation sources. So there’s no need to manually reconfigure hardware to make measurement changes. In addition, the VTI EX1403 can internally convert the voltage and current measurements to strain or resistance measurements.

Thermocouples are without a doubt the most popular type of temperature sensor, and the VTI Instruments EX1000A Precision Voltage Measurement Instrument Series provides 48 voltage channels and supports Type J, K, T, E, S, R, B, and N thermocouples. To help you avoid some common pitfalls when making thermocouple measurements and get the most out of your instrument, we offer the following tips:

When accuracy really counts, you should make four-wire resistance measurements. Sometimes referred to as the Kelvin method, the four-wire resistance method is often used in automated test applications where long cable lengths, numerous connections, or switches exist between the digital multimeter (DMM) and the device under test (DUT).

While today’s power supplies provide many advanced features, finding them and maximizing their capabilities can be challenging. That’s why when AMETEK Programmable Power designed the Sorensen™ SGX Series programmable DC power supplies, we paid a lot of attention to the user interface. The result? The SGX Series has an intuitive, easy-to-use front panel touchscreen display that allows you to quickly access output programming parameters, measurements, sequencing, and configuration and system settings.

One feature that makes the California Instruments™ Asterion® AC Series power sources an ideal choice for sophisticated test applications is their ability to manage test waveforms. In addition to providing the three standard waveforms — sine wave, square wave, and clipped sine wave — the Asterion AC Series has an arbitrary waveform generator that allows you to create up to 200 different custom waveforms and download them into the power source memory.

Testing that requires the use of strain gages often consume large amounts of resources and effort to prepare for. One way to reduce the amount of time and energy spent configuring a test is to use sensors that support the Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) interface. Many VTI measurement instruments support TEDS sensors including the EX1629 48-channel high-performance strain gage measurement instrument, EX1403 16-channel bridge/strain gage instrument, and the RX1024 24-channel bridge/strain gage instrument.