Specifications
INTRODUCTION
As technology is constantly
advancing, demands for
quality test instruments
increase due to the need for
making better and accurate
measurements to
accommodate newer
technologies. For most
electronic applications today,
using energy efficient and
reliable power sources is
critical. For this reason, it is
important to have a test
instrument that can accurately
portray results that define the
performance of the power
sources used to provide
electricity for devices such as
electrical vehicles, computer
power supplies, 3G cellular
phones, and even consumer
standard household batteries.
Programmable DC Electronic
loads are one such instrument
that will aid in testing various
settings, configurations,
schemes, and methodologies.
The intention of this
application note is to provide a
general scope of a DC load's
usage. Some standard
performance tests for testing
power supplies will be
described in details.
Furthermore, several methods
for testing the DC load itself
will be included in the later
sections. Additional details on
practical DC load applications
and setup information are
provided as a source to assist
in performing various test
setups and measuring data.
As a note, all applications and
software examples contained
in the later sections utilize
B&K Precision's DC load model
8500 as part of the different
setups and test configurations.
Most applications can be
simulated in the same fashion
with other brands of DC loads,
with the exception of all the
software examples. They are
written specifically for full
compatibility with B&K
Precision's 8500 series DC
loads and are not intended to
support other brands of DC
loads. In general, any
measurements made with B&K
Precision's equipments are
typical, but not guaranteed.
Overview of software
examples
Throughout some of the
sections in this application
note, software examples are
provided to enhance and
simplify test methods as well
as to bolster features of B&K
Precision's 8500 series DC
loads that can be controlled
remotely with a PC computer
via RS-232 interface. Unless
otherwise noted, all examples
are written in python
programming language. They
also require two python
libraries and the 8500 DC load
COM library installed on the PC
used for communication in
order to operate correctly. To
obtain all these as well as
instructional documentation
for installation and setup,
please visit one of our DC load
product pages at:
http://www.bkprecision.com/p
roducts/categories/sub_catego
ries/models/?
model=8500#software.
Unfortunately, the software
files are supported only for
Windows platforms. However,
due to the excellent cross-
platform capabilities of
python, some users may be
able to get the library (which
does not have to be utilized
via COM) working on other
platforms. Please see the
library's documentation for
more details.
Although the software and
examples are written in
python, users who have other
particular preferences in terms
of the programming language
to use can easily use the COM
library provided in the
software package to write
similar examples in the
language of their choice.
Some languages that have
been found to work well with
the COM library are Visual
Basic and Visual C#. Other
languages are also expected
to work with the library, given
the correct declarations and
modifications within the
program.
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