Laureate™ 1/8 DIN Digital Panel Meters,
Counters, Timers & Remote Displays

LAUREATE™ Series Hardware Overview

Modular Hardware

The design of the Laureate™ Series is modular for maximum flexibility at minimum cost. The base configuration for a panel meter or counter consists of a main module (with computer and plug-in display boards), a power supply board, and a signal conditioner board. Optional plug-in boards include an isolated setpoint controller board, an isolated analog output board, and an isolated digital interface board.

Modular design and a choice of plug-in options allow the Laureate to be customized for a broad range of applications from simple monitoring to control and computer interface. There can be up to five plug-in boards in a fully-loaded Laureate.

Main Module

The main module (with computer and display boards) defines the Laureate series (DPM, weight meter, counter, or remote display), version (standard or extended), and LED display color (red or green). The number of digits is 5 for DPMs or 6 for counters, weight meters and remote displays. Digits are a full 14.2 mm (0.56") high.

Power Supply Boards

The same standard switching power supply board handles inputs of 95-240 Vac ±10% for worldwide AC use, plus 90-300 Vdc. An optional low voltage power supply board handles 12-30 Vac or 10-48 Vdc, allowing the meter to be powered by batteries. Isolated 5, 10 or 24 Vdc transducer excitation output is standard with either supply.

• Normal Voltage:  95-240 Vac ±10% or 90 - 370 Vdc

• Low Voltage: 12-30 Vac or 10-48 Vdc

Signal Conditioner Boards

Four input boards are used for DPMs:

• DC (volts, amps, mV, mA, process such as 4-20 mA, strain, pot follower).
• AC True RMS (AC volts, mV, amps, mA).
• Temperature (J, K, T, E, N, R, S thermocouple, Pt 100 ohm RTD).
• Load cell (load cells, scale meter, strain gauges, microvolts).

Three input boards are used for counters: dual-channel counter, voltage-to-frequency, and quadrature. Click on each link below to be linked to the appropriate page.

Dual-channel counter:

• AC frequency, period, rate
  (includes square root extraction and custom curve linearization)
• Digital stopwatch
• Time interval meter
• Phase angle meter
• Duty cycle meter
• Up / down totalizer
  (includes square root extraction and custom curve linearization)
• Ratio, draw, channels A+B, A-B, AxB, A/B, A/B-1
  (arithmetic operation on dual input channels A & B)
• Pulse input batch controller
• Voltage-to-Frequency Converter
  (rate, rate and total, square root, analog totalizer, analog batch control, 1/rate (time), custom curves)
• Quadrature Meter / Controller
  (position or rate from quadrature encoders with low-level differential or single ended logic level outputs)

Setpoint Controller Boards

Two isolated setpoint controller options are available to add control and alarm capability to DPMs, counters and remote displays:

• Dual 8A contact relays
• Dual isolated solid state relays

Analog Output Board

An optional isolated analog output board is available to provide 0-10 Vdc and 4-20 mA outputs for DPMs, counters and remote displays. It is ideal to drive a chart recorder or for transmission to a control room. The two outputs are linearized and independently scaled to the display. In the pulse input batch controller, a 8A relays fill the socket of the analog output board.

• 0-10 Vdc and 4-20 mA analog output

Digital Interface Boards

Optional isolated interface boards allow the Laureate to communicate with a computer or PLC. The two serial boards allow the Laureate to drive a remote display, or to serve as a remote display.

• Isolated RS-232 I/O
• Isolated RS-485 I/O
• Isolated Modbus RS-485 I/O

Designed for Industrial Use

All Laureates are housed in a compact and rugged 1/8 DIN case which fits in a standard 45 x 92 mm panel cutout and requires only 102 mm (4.0") behind the panel (plus connectors). In many applications, a Laureate can replace a larger, more expensive instrument. The Laureate case is sealed to NEMA-4X (IP-65) requirements from the front when panel mounted to allow high-pressure wash-down.

Connectors Included

All power and signal connections are via UL / IEC / CSA rated screw-clamp terminals, which are standard. The RS-232 and RS-485 options are connected via RJ-11 phone jacks.

Easy Setup & Calibration

All Laureate meters and counters are shipped fully configured, calibrated, and ready to run. All ranges of Laureate DC, AC and temperature meters are calibrated at the factory, with calibration factors stored in EEPROM. This allows different ranges to be selected via plug-in jumpers, with no need to recalibrate the meter for each new range.

Setup can be from the front panel or by using powerful and easy-to-use Laureate Setup & Calibration Software, which can be downloaded at no charge from our Software Download Page. It can simplify setup whether the PC is connected to the instrument or not. Absolute calibration of Laureate panel meters requires temporary connection to an external calibrator and to a PC running Laureate Setup & Calibration Software. System-level scale and offset calibration can also be from the front panel to produce specified readings from known signals, such as 4-20 mA = 0.00% to 100.00%.

Laureate Datalogging Software

Datalogging Software turns a PC connected to up to 31 Laureate instruments into a powerful, low-cost datalogging system. The Laureates can be any mix of digital panel meters and counters, excluding only remote displays. Data can be displayed on a computer screen in the form of up to 64 simulated panel meters, which can include virtual meters that show an arithmetic combination of meter readings or totalized readings, such as volume from flow rate. Data is can be captured on disk in the form of comma-delimited ASCII files for analysis and graphic by an external program such as MS Excel.