Inexpensive system brings panel meters into the 21st century

Panel meters have been around since the 19th century, and the last time they underwent a significant design change was when they went from using galvanometers to seven-segment liquid-crystal displays. The PanelPilot system is an even greater improvement — one likely to forever change how panel meters are purchased and deployed — and it is priced under $100.

The initial meter in the PanelPilot system series, the model SGD 24-M, is a 3 x 1.9 x 0.6-in. unit. It accepts measurement inputs from 0 to 40 Vdc at a typical rate of 3 sample/s, and has a typical measurement accuracy of 0.05%.

The revolutionary aspect of the device is that the meter employs a 320 x 240-pixel (QVGA) color LCD display — with touch capability — that users can program via the meter’s Mini-B USB port to display measurement data in whatever format they want: as a an analog display, a digital readout, a bar graph, or in some other format they’d care to invent. Real-easy-to-use Windows-compatible software that can be freely downloaded from the PanelPilot Web site (www.panelpilot.com) lets the user select any of a number of display formats, choose a color scheme, label the parameter being measured, and set up the meter for the intended measurement range. Users can also program the meter to display logos or other graphics before displaying the readings.

The SGD-24-M will be followed by other-sized displays later this year, and new display formats will be added to the software as demand dictates. (From $95 in single qty — available 4 to 6 weeks ARO.)

Formed in 1977, Lascar Electronics started life in a garage in Essex, England designing and manufacturing a range of digital panel meters and complementary power supplies. In 1980, with sales showing significant growth, the company moved from Essex to its current location in Whiteparish, England where its headquarters are still located.

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