Pico Technology

1. New product - DrDAQ Oxygen Sensor
2. New automotive product - Diagnostic Dice!
3. SysMan software makes for "mobile" data acquisition
4. Automotive application note - Electronic throttle control
5. Three Peaks Challenge raises money for children's hospital
6. Technical tip - save to disk on trigger
7. New science experiments
8. Latest software releases
9. Back issues of this newsletter
10. Subscribe / unsubscribe information

1.  New product — DrDAQ Oxygen Sensor

Last month we announced the new oxygen in air sensor for the DrDAQ educational data logger. Unlike many previously available oxygen sensors, the DD103 oxygen sensor can measure the full 0 to 100% range. This makes it ideal for many chemistry, biology and physics experiments.

Please visit the new oxygen sensor page for full information on the new sensor

We have also added a kit which contains the following:

• DrDAQ data logger
• Two temperature sensors
• pH electrode
• Humidity sensor
• Reed switch sensor
• Oxygen sensor

The above kit is available for £245 (approx $385 USD, €356) - click for more information

2.  New Automotive Product — Diagnostic Dice!

Pico is known for manufacturing professional test equipment, not selling novelty gifts, but when we were shown a set of diagnostic dice we could not resist.

To use the dice, simply choose the correct one for the symptoms you are facing. For example, roll the blue dice when the engine overheats, perhaps you need a new head gasket, water pump, thermostat or sensor?

Whilst diagnostic dice are a novelty item designed for entertainment purposes, they can actually help guide the novice mechanic towards a solution. For the pro, they are a great tool for explaining to customers why they have to pay for diagnostic time.

These dice have already proved popular with our staff, as they make a great gift for the frustrated mechanic. They are available for a limited time from our automotive web site

3.  SysMan Software Makes for "Mobile" Data Acquisition

A new third party software package "SysManSMS" provides a link between the DrDAQ data logger and your mobile phone. This combination provides a cost-effective, easy-to-install solution to a broad range of problems wherever there is a need to make someone who is mobile aware of an environment change and allow them to take action to address that change remotely.

For full details read the DrDAQ and SysManSMS application note.

4.  Automotive Application Note — Electronic Throttle Control

This application note looks at how electronics are making the throttle cable redundant in the modern vehicle and how "fly by wire" is becoming a reality.

By describing the system used and using waveforms captured with the Automotive Diagnostic Kit, this note will prove invaluable to the mechanic faced with the task of diagnosing problems with such vehicles.

View the electronic throttle control application note to find out more.

5.  Three Peaks Challenge Raises Money for Children's Hospital

Ten of the fittest Pico staff members have decided to take on the "Three Peaks Challenge", this is an attempt to climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales all within 24hrs.

The mountains and their heights are Snowdon (3560 ft / 1085m), Ben Nevis (4406 ft / 1343m) and Scarfell Pike (3162ft / 964m).

The attempt will take place on the 27th June and the climbers will be raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. If you would like to find out more about the charity, or make a donation please visit the Great Ormond Street Hospital website.

6.  Technical Tip — Save to Disk on Trigger

PicoScope, our oscilloscope software has the useful ability to save a waveform to disk (complete with a time / date stamp) each time a trigger event occurs. This can prove invaluable when tracking down intermittent faults, especially those that happen infrequently over a period of hours or days.

The trigger mode can be enabled by selecting Settings | Trigger. By default a maximum of 100 waveforms will be recorded to disk (to avoid filling your hard drive). This default can be overridden by editing the settings in the WIN.INI file as shown below:

1. Using a text editor such as notepad, open WIN.INI (usually in c:\windows)
2. Find the section called [PicoScope for Windows]
3. Add a line MaxSOTFiles=200 (where 200 is the maximum number of files you wish to save)
4. Save WIN.INI and restart PicoScope

7.  New Science Experiments

Our library of science experiments for data loggers and oscilloscopes continues to grow. New this month is an experiment which looks at the cooling of hot and cold water to see which freezes first, the results may surprise you!

See this and over sixty other interesting and educational experiments at the Pico Technology library of science experiments

8.  Latest Software Releases

The current production releases are:

• PicoScope R5.09.3
• PicoLog R5.09.2
• EnviroMon R5.09.5
• Drivers R5.08.7

Software can be downloaded from www.picotech.com/download.html

(Note : the above web page also contains a link to our 'what's new' page which describes recent changes and additions to the software).

As soon as we release new software, it is made available for FREE download from our web site. To check which version you are using, start the software (PicoScope, PicoLog or EnviroMon) and select HELP | ABOUT.

9.  Back Issues of this Newsletter

Back issues of this newsletter are now available online at http://www.picotech.com/maillist.html

10.  Subscribe / Unsubscribe Information

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