magazine article: build the data monitor

[Alain Toussaint]

there's an article in the "electronic now" magazine that i think should be
interresting to all,here's an excerpt (hope i spell it right):
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	Imagine how useful it would be to be able to monitor and record
information about your environment for extended periods of time without
having to be physically there. With a variety of input sensors,you could
analyze the temperature of your attic to see if really needed those ridge
vents........(unimportant stuff skipped)..........Now imagine how useful
such a device would be if it could be run from either battery or AC power
and didn't need to be tied to a PC to store information.

	The data monitor described in the this article is just such an
instrument. It is highly configurable, low in cost (my eyes,the company in
question ask 299$ for an assembled unit with the software for win3.1 and
95) and easy to use. It can monitor and store up to four analog and four
digital inputs at the same time. The sampling rate can be set anywhere
from 30 milliseconds to more than 49 days. There is also an eight-term
complex trigger that can include up to four digital and four analog
inputs. All the information is recorded in an EEPROM that has a capacity
of 2048 words (does it have an IDE interface ???)..........(lot O'stuff
skipped).........

	The data monitor's hardware can monitor and record almost any
electronic or electrical circuit through the use of plug-in personality
modules. An accompanying article details the building of a general-purpose
personality module that include four digital and three analog (where's the
fourth ????????? ok,just kidding) inputs. Also included is a temperature
sensor that use the data monitor's fourth analog input (did i said
anything about a fourth input ??? well never mind). Altough not needed to
test the data monitor,buiding that personality module is a good idea and
is very handy for testing the various functions of the data monitor.

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if ya want the full stories (and the plan of the thing) get the April 98
issue of Electronic now,along with the personality module,this is the main
article of the mag so you wont miss it !!!

Alain Toussaint (alaint at boisfrancs.qc.ca)

Frederic Breitweiser: your inbox dont seem to receive message i send,my
isp has been trying to send you a messages for the past 4 hours (in fact,i
sent it this morning).