Handheld Vibration Analyzers Enable Impact Testing and Route-based Data Collection

Dec. 2, 2008
Datastick Systems, Inc. adds six handheld vibration analyzers to its VSA product line

Datastick Systems, Inc. adds six handheld vibration analyzers to its VSA product line, along with an upgrade of its Spectrum software suite for handheld computers and smartphones and InSpect route-creation and execution software for PCs and handheld computers. Datastick VSA-series Vibration Spectrum Analyzers are used in predictive maintenance and troubleshooting for machine health monitoring.

Datastick InSpect route creation and execution software makes it easy for a supervisor to create an inspection route on the pc and download it to the handheld computer so that a less highly trained technician can collect vibration data in a simple pushbutton process. When the inspection route is complete, the supervisor uploads the data to his PC where he can easily create machine-health trends and reports. The collected data can also be used for detailed analysis in either of Datastick's two vibration analysis software applications.

On the hardware front, Datastick announces six products: three each in the VSA 6-Series and 7-Series.

The three 6-Series VSAs — the VSA-1216 for Palm handhelds, the VSA-1226 for Hewlett-Packard iPAQ handhelds and the VSA-2216 for Palm Treo smartphones — add to capabilities of the existing 5-Series with the inclusion of pressure-sensing capability and the ability to interface with displacement sensors and displacement-based machine monitoring equipment such as Bently Nevada systems.

The three 7-Series VSAs — the VSA-1217 for Palm handhelds, the VSA-1227 for Hewlett-Packard iPAQ handhelds and the VSA-2217 for Palm Treo smartphones — add to the capabilities of the 6-Series by enabling automatically triggered impact tests (bump tests) with maximum frequencies of up to 1 kHz.

To round out the VSA announcements, Datastick Spectrum handheld vibration analysis software has been updated to version 1.9. It now includes a password-protected supervisor mode to prevent unauthorized changes to settings and a Period Tool in time-domain waveform views to help vibration analysts quickly quantify periodic wave anomalies. Version 1.9 of Datastick Reporting System PC software also adds a Period Tool for time-domain waveforms.

Datastick VSA hardware modules attach to PDAs and smartphones, and ICP-compatible sensors attach to the hardware. Datastick Spectrum software displays waveform or FFT spectral information on the PDA. Data can be shown in terms of acceleration, velocity, displacement and vibration decibel, as well as overall vibration.

After the data is captured on the PDA, the user exports it to Datastick Reporting System software on a Windows XP or Windows Vista PC for further analysis and trending.

The six VSAs join three existing VSAs in the Vibration Spectrum Analyzer product lineup.