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Instrumentation and Control News

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News is also accessible from back numbers of Readout see the Readout Home Page.

The ISA also mantains an M&C News Page which mostly contains news of North American developments.
We have just started a C&I Preview Page giving details of new products and services at Britain's premier I&C Show.

European Fieldbus Standard EN 50170 now ratified - In the second voting the EN 50170 passed with 15:3. The EN 50170 contains the three national standards P-NET (Danmark), PROFIBUS (Germany) and WorldFIP (France). The concerning national standards will be withdrawn from 30.06.1997.(Guenther Seemann - 30/3/96)

Reduced Pollution - Electric utilities in the United States of America reduced sulfur dioxide (SO2), a major contributor to acid rain, by 39 percent more than legally required. Electric utilities account for 70 percent of SO2 emissions.
The reductions exceeded the level called for under the Clean Air Act by 1995 -- the first phase of the US's EPA's acid-rain-control program. These new data released today by EPA follow yesterday's fourth annual acid-rain allowance auction run by the Chicago board of Trade.(28/3/96)

DeviceNet News - March 1996 issue is now available. DiviceNet is the ODVA (Open DeviceNet Vendor Association) and Bill Moss has more details and a copy of the newsletter. (26/3/96)

Torque Sensors - Eaton Corporation's Lebow Products is introducing a new family of reaction and rotary torque sensors under a licensing agreement they have signed with Magnetoelastic Devices, Inc. They will be marketed under the name TorqStar. They are specifically designed for use in applications such as dynamometers, engine test stands, web tension controls, torsional test equipment and industrial machinery monitoring and control. They may be contacted at fax +1 810 6430259. (25/3/96)

P-NET Fieldbus Conference - the 4th International Conference is being held in Oporto, Portugal 2nd and 3rd May 1996. P-NET is one of three fieldbus types chosen to be part of the proposed Fieldbus standard, EN50170. More information from P-NET Head Office(25/3/96)

Subsea Control & Data Acquisition - is the title of a two-day International Conference being hosted by the InstMC; Contact Karen Whines at Tel:+44 171 3874949; Fax:+44 171 3888431. (25/3/96)

Water Hydraulics Control Technology - is a new book from Danfoss written by internationally recognised expert in the field, Erik Trostmann. The book covers the latest technology and includes details of equipment from a number of manufacturers. Regarded as a difinitive publication it is available at a special introductory price from Danfoss's English company on Tel: +44 181 9917000 or Fax: +44 181 9917171. (25/3/96)

Instrumenting Solutions - is the name of a new newsletter just published by Whessoe. This will review advances in instrumentation technology - with particular focus on applications in the oil, gas and chemical process industries. Ask Brendan Hyland for a copy. (25/3/96)

Analytica'96- Details of this Exhibition and Conference may be had from the Messe Muenchen Weeb Pages. (25/3/96)

Three Year Guarantee for Analyser - Further product development has enabled Servomex International to achieve major improvements in the reliability of chopper motors used in its Xandos series infrared industrial process gas analysers. They are so confident in the long-term reliability of these key components that it has increased the guarantee on chopper motors to three years. (23/3/96)

New Graphics Configuration - The PanelView 1400e is the latest addition to a line of Allen Bradley operator terminals, offering VGA colour pixel graphics and configurable Remote I/O/DataHighway Plus communications capabilities. (22/3/96)

Non-Contact Temperature Sensors - The revised IRt/c Book claims to be the most comprehensive catalogue and reference book on non contact temperature in the industry. Fax Exergen on +1 617 9239911 for your own copy.(21/3/96)

DeviceNet Products - are listed in a publication from the Open DeviceNet Vendors association. Call Bill Moss for more details. (More fieldbus information on our Fieldbus Page.(21/3/96)

Advanced I&C and Monitoring Systems - The Power-Gen'96 Conference (Budapest 26/28 June 1996) Programme has just been issued and includes a programme on advance I&C and Monitoring Systems in Operating Palnts with speakers from Ireland (QUB), Italy, Poland and Germany.(21/3/96)

New Computer for embedded applications - Io Ltd has released a tiny new computer for embedded applications that links its new generation I/O board range with the K4 controller with its multi-tasking, object-oriented programming environment.(21/3/96)

Signal Conditioners find Global Applications - Endevco's model 2793 ISOTRON signal conditioner is being used in a variety of applications around the world.
Special versions have been developed for a major urban transport operator in North America and a new Aerospace facility in Southern Europe. Each of the custom versions features variations from the standard 16-channel model 2793. Paul Marchant on +44 1763 261311 or Fax: +44 1763 261120. (21/3/96)

Courses in Optical Design - In order to use software effectively and economically users should understand the principles of optical design and also the most effective ways to run the soft ware. Kidger Optics run courses on various aspects of optical design and many hundreds of optical engineers and scientists have benifited from these courses. This year they are introducing a new format for these courses, to provide more flexibility to the optical design community. More information from fax +44 1892 664483.(20/6/96)

Open EMC test Platform - Schaffner has released an open-architecture system platform to meet the fast-growing and changing requirements for EMC testing of electronic and electrical products. (20/3/96)

Implications of CE Legislation - The ISA Ireland Annual Conference deals with this complex issue. (20/3/96)

Safe Density Measurement - The new DMA 3000 Dip-in portable density launched by Paar Scientific uses a remote density probe which is dropped into the liquid or slurry to be measured, avoiding the dangers when drawing samples out of a tank as well as identifying any layering by giving a continuous reading. Further information from Bryan Treherne on +44 181 540 8553. (20/3/96)

MTL Results - The MTL Instruments Group reports sales up 15% to 34.6m stg and their revenue investment in new product development and design increased by 1.1m stg to 4.1m stg. "Our recently released new ranges of innovative intrinsic safety products together with our excellent geographic coverage place us in a strong position position to benefit from the continuing growth in the worldwide intrinsic safety market," said Chairman Ian Hutcheon. "The prospects for our further new products due for release later in 1996 are very encouraging." (20/3/96)

Data Acquisition and Control Modules - The DMS 3000 series of intelligent I/O modules from A II D Solutions, is designed for high performance, ease of installation and to provide long trouble service in the most demanding of environments. Paul Kemp on +44 161 480 3163 has all the details.(18/3/96)

Wizcon 5 - PC Soft International has re;leased Wizcon 5 for Windows 95, one of the first PC SCADA software packages to be implemented in true 32 bit Windows 95 native code. (18/3/96)

Measurement Quality Conference - The annual Measurement quality Conference has been established to provide a forum for topics where the interests of metrology and quality professionals intersect, i.e., the quality aspects of good measurement and the measurement aspects of effective quality management. There will be a mix of panel discussions and individual presentations. The Measurement Quality Conference devotes ample time for informal discussion with the speakers and other participants, both during and between the sessions. This year's theme is on assuring and maintaining measurement traceability and uncertainty. More details from Carroll.Brickenkamp NIST. (16/3/96)

Call for Papers - Fieldbus - Calls for Papers for FieldComms Conference and the VITA European Conference both being held in Brussels in October are being sought at present. Bob Squirral has further information.(16/3/96)

ETIM'96 - 1996 - International Workshop on Emergent Technologies for Instrumentation and Measurements is sceduled for Como, Italy, June 10-11, 1996. More details and registration to:
Mrs. Laura Caldirola
Department of Electronics and Information
Politecnico di Milano
Fax +39-2-2399-3411. (16/3/96)

Virtual Hart Book - The electronic version of the Hart Book is now live on the world wide web.(see also our Digital Communications Page. (15/3/96)

MPPOI'96 - The third annual conference on Massively Parallel Processing Architectures using Optical Interconnections (MPPOI'96) will be held on Oct. 27-29, 1996 in the Westin Maui Hotel, Maui, Hawaii. The Conference will focus on the potential for using optical interconnections in massively parallel processing systems, and their effect on system and algorithm design. Optics offer many benefits for interconnecting large numbers of processing elements, but may require us to rethink how we build parallel computer systems and communication networks, and how we write applications. Details for Paper Presentation email: Dr. Eugen Schenfeld. (15/3/96)

Linear positioning tables - Daedal, a division of Parker Hannifin Corporation, has launched two new families of miniature low-cost linear positioning tables that measure just 60mm wide by 32mm high. Known as the 102000BN and 402000LN series, the tables offer a variety of high-performance bearing and leadscrew combinations, enabling designers to exactly match their application needs. The tables' combination of high positional accuracy, exceptionally small physical size and low cost makes them particularly suitable for precision positioning applications where access is restricted, or where conventional stages and motors are simply too large or expensive. They are ideal single and multi-axis positioners for applications involving relatively light payloads and short stroke lengths, such as optical alignment units, inspection systems, and gauging equipment.(15/3/96)

SCPI Consortium in Europe - The programming of test and measurement instruments that are equiped with a standard interface like GPIB/IEEE488.1/IEC 625-1, RS 232 or VXI, requires an extensive knowledge about a variety of control sets. Therefore in 1990 the most instrument manufacturers agreed apon a unified language for the control of their instruments. In order to make these Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments - SCPI - amore easily accessible to companies in Europe the board of Directors of the SCPI Consortium have appointed John Pieper as their European Contact. He has bee involved with the consortium since its inception.(9/3/96)

Clampon US Intelligent Sensor - These versatile new instruments have been specially developed for a wide range of applications in process, water supply, power generation and the oil and gas industries. More details from ClampOn AS at Bergeeen Tel:+47 55 347470; Fax: +47 55 347480. (9/3/96)

Industrial Education Programme - Forbairt, Ireland's industrial development and standards authority has announced its industrial training programme for 1996. Full details are available from Rena Cushion.(9/3/96)

Field Communications Pavilion at C&I - This Pavilion is designed to allow visitors to compare and contrast systems conveniently on one large exhibition stand. It will feature demonstrations from leading field communications protocols. (see also our Fieldbus Page and the C&I News Page).(9/3/96)

48 Line I/O Board with 3, 16bit Counter Timers - The latest in Amplicon Liveline's industry standard 200 Series data acquisition boards, the PC214E, is low cost 48 line I/O board with three 16 bit counter/timers.(8/3/96)

Full Networking in the Small Office -A new product, manufactured by 3Com, is set to bring full computer networking within the reach of small offices for the first time. OfficeConnect, which was launched by the company in Boston last week, provides an integrated suite of computer networking products for offices with 20 or fewer PC users, facilitating access to the Internet, the World Wide Web and other services. With an estimated market of 21 million in the US and Europe alone, Shane Buckley, Country Manager for 3Com Ireland, believes the product will "revolutionise the networking industry" as the benefits of networking will now be affordable for most small firms. 3Com's European manufacturing facility at Dublin, which is currently undergoing a major expansion, is the world-wide supplier for OfficeConnect. A 16-person R & D group, involved in designing complex networking chips for LAN switching products, is also based there. The most recent chipset designed by the group for LinkSwitch 1000 and 3000 products has made 3Com the market leader in low-cost LAN switching within a year of its launch. (IE Professional) (7/3/96)

Motion Control Expo - Motion Control magazine and ISA are sponsoring the first-ever Motion Control Expo at the IPC ë96 Show at Cobo Center in Detroit on May 14-16. The Motion Control Expo is a focused showcase of motion control suppliers exhi biting motors, drives, servos, motion controllers, positioning systems, sensors, computing hardware and software and more. (7/3/96)

ISA adopts New Show Formats - ISA, the International Society for Measurement and Control, has adopted a plan to replace its traditional show format with two new alternating, annual events tentatively called ISA Control Tech and ISA Control Fair. Currently, the ISA Show is the largest instrumentation and control conference and exhibition in the Western Hemisphere. (7/3/96)

Open EMC test platform meets CE compliance checks - Schaffner has released an open-architecture system platform to meet the fast-growing and changing requirements for EMC testing of electronic and electrical products. Known as ProfLine, the platform is constructed around flexible standards-based hardware and Windows control software, to allow users to automate the test and documentation process, yet re-configure and adapt the system to meet the evolving nature of EMC compliance. The approach empowers a user community which has learnt a lot about EMC in the panic to comply with the January 1996 CE deadline, by providing simple, high-level test tools capable of verifying current and future EMC standards.
Max Ryser of Schaffner Elektronik has more information on +41 65 802 626 (7/6/93)

Advanced liquid density transducer - Solartron has significantly simplified the integration of liquid density transducers into DCS and SCADA systems with the introduction of its range of intrinsically-safe advanced densitometers. Built-in processing in the densitometer head eliminates the need for separate flow computers or signal converters, allowing stand-alone operation, and offering significant savings to process engineers. Industry-standard Modbus and analog outputs facilitate direct connection into control systems. This highly cost-effective range includes densitometers suitable for fiscal metering and processes involving aggressive fluids or demanding hygiene standards.
For more information, please contact: Pauline Taylor of Solartron on +44/1252 376666. (7/3/96)

Process Engineering'96 - is a new process plant and equipment show being launched this year by Miller Freeman Exhibitions. This new show will be held alongside the more established C&I show in Birmingham, England which MF also organise.(6/3/96)

ISA Pavilion at C&I - The England Section of ISA will be hosting a pavilion at the 1996 C&I Show in Birmingham, England. This is the 25 Anniversary show of C&I. More details of this pavilion and ISA's England section from the Secretariat.(6/3/96) (See also our C&I Show Preview).

FieldComms - Following the outstanding success of FieldComms'95 - the world's first Networking Show and Conference - the organisers have announced an additional event for 1996. FieldComms Europe is being held in Brussels on October 8 and 9th and the forerunner FieldComms UK is returning to its venue in Leicestershire, England on the 5th and 6th November. Conference contact is Lyndsey Carter. Exhibitors should contact Bill Dunlop Uprichard on +44 171 417 7400. (6/3/96)
(see also our Digital Communications Page.

Internet Directory of Instrumentation

The Instrumentation Signpost has interesting pointers for the I&C Professional.