Kipp&Zonen AMPBOX Amplifier - Manual (Page 9)

Throughout this manual the following symbols are used to indicate to the user important information.
General warning about conditions, other than those caused by high voltage electricity, which may result in physical
injury and/or damage to the equipment or cause the equipment to not operate correctly.
Note Useful information for the user.
1.1 Product overview
AMPBOX is a digital amplifier perfectly suited to combine with our instruments. Most Kipp & Zonen solar radiation radiometers
are passive instruments that do not require any power to operate. The thermopile or photo-diode detector generates the output
signal. However, the output is a very low voltage, typically in the region of 10 mV on a bright sunny day.
Not every data acquisition system can measure the small output voltage from most of our solar radiation radiometers. The AMPBOX
can provide a solution for this problem. On the input it will receive the voltage output from our solar radiation radiometer, and on
the output it will sink a current between 4 to 20 mA. In combination with a shunt resistor higher-level voltage measurements can
be realized to suit the input channels of the data acquisition system. The input and output of the AMPBOX are galvanically isolated
to protect the data collection equipment.
The AMPBOX can also provide a solution when cable lengths between the radiometer and the data acquisition system are over
50 meters.
Current sink units (like the AMPBOX) are powered from the current loop. They take less than 4 mA to operate and regulate the
current flow to produce the 4 to 20 mA signals. The advantage is that these units are small, low power and only require a single
2-wire connection cable. However, the power for the amplifier and the current signal must be provided. Industrial DAQ systems
normally have input channels that can be configured to take the 4 to 20 mA signals directly and provide the power for the
current loop. Otherwise an external power supply must be connected to power the loop.
The instrument will find usage in many applications like; wind farms, solar energy farms, agricultural monitoring, scientific
research, meteorology and many other areas. The AMPBOX was designed with the aim of simplicity and functionality and it has
low power consumption.
If any questions should remain, please contact your local Kipp & Zonen representative or e-mail the Kipp & Zonen customer and
product support department at:
[email protected]
Please go to www.kippzonen.com for information about other Kipp & Zonen products, or to check for any updates to this manual.
1. Introduction
9