Glossary
NI 4050 User Manual G-6 www.ni.com
ISA industry standard architecture
isolation a type of signal conditioning in which you isolate the transducer signals
from the computer for safety purposes. This protects you and your
computer from large voltage spikes and makes sure the measurements from
the DAQ device are not affected by differences in ground potentials.
isolation voltage the voltage that an isolated circuit can normally withstand, usually
specified from input to input and/or from any input to the amplifier output,
or to the computer bus
M
m meters
MB megabytes of memory
N
NI-DAQ National Instruments driver software for DAQ hardware.
NMRR normal mode rejection ratio—a measure of an instrument’s ability to reject
a signal applied directly to the differential inputs of the instrument
noise an undesirable electrical signal—Noise comes from external sources such
as the AC power line, motors, generators, transformers, fluorescent lights,
soldering irons, CRT displays, computers, electrical storms, welders, radio
transmitters, and internal sources such as semiconductors, resistors, and
capacitors. Noise corrupts signals you are trying to send or receive.
O
Ohm’s Law (R=V/I)—the relationship of voltage to current in a resistance
overrange a segment of the input range of an instrument outside of the normal
measuring range. Measurements can still be made, usually with a
degradation in specifications.