Megger Improves Insulation Testing With Feature Rich Testers

Commercial testing of installations mandates the use of insulation resistant tester to identify efficiencies as well as deficiencies in the electrical system. The certification agency observes these practices before certifying that installation is per regulations. When such best practices are followed the risk of short circuits and potential fire hazards is completely negated. More often than not, both the contractor and the certifying agency falling short in these practices lead to accidents and avoidable disasters.Insulation testing by a properly designed tester should exhibit sharp voltage rise and retain that voltage through several higher resistances.

Megger is a renowned name in test and measurement equipment manufacturing with research and manufacturing facilities in United States of America, Britain, Germany and Sweden. Megger equipment's are used in telecommunications, electric power and building wiring industries. Megger has recently announced the introduction of enhanced Megger insulation testers and continuity testers. They are CAT IV compliant and rated to 600 volts operation. The main feature of this tester is the variable voltage from 10 V to 1000 V with incremented steps that allow tight control of test voltages.

The Megger insulation tester is ideally suited for use in motor testing, cable testing and major electrical installations. Other applications include avionics, automotive and building maintenance. User safety is the highest rating accorded for this device due to its use in high voltage environments. For safety, the device features live circuit detection as well as protection. Some of the Megger models are equipped with Bluetooth data transfer capability as well as data storage memory.

Understanding Digital Oscilloscopes

Detecting the integrity of electronic circuits is the main function of oscilloscopes. For example, a voltage signal may show that circuit is oscillating while a voltmeter reading may show a markedly different voltage.An absent signal trace between connected electronic instruments like an amplifier and or mixer will help determine whether the faulty signal preceding the equipment needs more checking. The oscilloscope can detect faults right down to the component stage.

Tektronix oscilloscope

Primarily an oscilloscope's basic function is to provide a graph of voltage signal over time. PWM (pulse width modulation) duty cycle as well as clock frequency signal’s rise and fall times measurements are possible using this instrument. The Tektronix oscilloscope is perhaps the most favored instrument. The controls are easy to use. To start a Tektronix oscilloscope pressing the function generator and selecting the function will form the first step for any measurements. The inputs derived from the probes gives a real time changes in signals over time. The representation of Y-axis denotes the voltage (as an example) and X-axis represents the time function. Digital oscilloscopes samples wave forms and using analog to digital circuitry converts the voltage into a digital format. Modern oscilloscopes can send digital data to a PC for later viewing.

This testing instrument also measures the frequency and amplitude of an oscillating signal. It also shows the DC (direct current) voltage or AC (alternating current) voltage in a signal. A flat horizontal line in the waveform indicates that there is no voltage change in the signal. Change in the height of the waveform indicates that voltage fluctuation has taken place.

Particle Counters to Be A Way of Life

The importance of particle detectors in present day environment is becoming more due to increased pollution. Cities are reporting higher readings of hazardous hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. Example of Beijing shutting down during Dec 2015 is a first for any city in the world. In Jan 2016, Beijing announced closing down more than 2500 polluting industrial firms for smog that is engulfing China's capital.

Another example of New Delhi the capital city of India has tried out for two week odd and even numbered traffic policy for vehicles. The level of pollution in New Delhi has reached alarming proportions. The policies by the respective governments are based on measurements read by particle counters.Numerous study papers have correlated association between cardio-respiratory issues and air quality in Beijing urban areas. [Ref: Health effects of particle pollution in Beijing, China (ongoing)].

Particle counters are standard and mandatory test instruments on space missions. For example, Cassini (launched in 2004) is presently orbiting Saturn. The spacecraft is maneuvering closer to Saturn's poles to study the gravity and magnetic fields. On board Cassini is a particle detector that will sample icy ring (of Saturn's) particles that is being pulled into the atmosphere of Saturn. All space missions to Mars have particle detectors and there are teams in NASA and other space organizations studying this data. An interested entrepreneur is Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX, Tesla and Gigabit Solar) whose life's mission is to set up a colony on Mars. 

From the brief description in the above paragraphs, we can conclude that it will only get worse. It will not be surprising in the next five years to see particle detectors as fixtures in EV (electric vehicles) that will analyze outside air quality.