Sensor engineering calculators
Datasheet-grade conversions for instrumentation and electronics engineers.
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Signals and fieldbus
- 4–20 mA converterScale a loop current to a process value and back, and check it against NAMUR NE 43.
- 4–20 mA loop power calculatorCheck that a two-wire transmitter still gets enough voltage at full alarm current, with your load and cable.
- Sensor supply voltage drop calculatorHow much of the 24 V reaches a three- or four-wire sensor, and how far the shared 0 V shifts its voltage output.
- Pulse output calculatorFrequency and resolution of a pulse output, from a flow meter's K-factor or an encoder's pulses per revolution, against your counter input.
- Modbus register decoderTurn raw holding or input registers into the number they carry, in every byte and word order, or a value into registers.
Electronics and current
- ADC resolution calculatorHow fine a sensor signal is resolved by an analogue-to-digital converter, in the unit you measure.
- Anti-aliasing RC filter calculatorCheck an RC input filter against the ADC: corner frequency, attenuation at half the sample rate, settling to ½ LSB and delay.
- Instrumentation amplifier gain calculatorPick the gain resistor for a bridge or sensor amplifier and check that the output stays inside the rails.
- Current shunt resistor calculatorVoltage, dissipation and error of a current shunt, and the gain and resolution it needs ahead of an ADC.
- Current transformer burden calculatorAdd up the cable and the meters on a CT secondary and compare the total with the rated burden.
- Battery life calculatorHow long a battery-powered sensor lasts when it sleeps, measures and transmits once per interval.
Temperature
- PT100 / PT1000 calculatorPlatinum RTD resistance and temperature per IEC 60751. Type in either field.
- RTD lead-wire error calculatorHow much cable resistance adds to a PT100 or PT1000 reading with 2-, 3- or 4-wire connection.
- Temperature measurement error calculatorThe whole chain in one number: sensor tolerance class, wiring or cold junction, transmitter and output, combined as total probable error and worst case.
- Thermocouple calculatorTemperature and meter voltage per NIST ITS-90, with cold-junction compensation. Type in either field.
- NTC thermistor calculatorBeta model from datasheet values, plus Steinhart–Hart from three calibration points.
- NTC voltage divider calculatorSize the series resistor for an NTC read by an ADC: output, sensitivity, resolution per code and self-heating over your range.
Pressure and force
- Load cell output calculatorBridge signal for one cell or several in parallel through a junction box.
- Strain gauge bridge calculatorOutput of a strain-gauge Wheatstone bridge for a given strain, or the strain behind a measured output. Type in either field.
- Pressure unit converterType in any unit; all the others update.
- Pressure transmitter accuracy calculatorCombine reference accuracy, temperature effect and long-term drift into a total probable error for your calibrated range.
- Process connection thread identifierMeasure the outside diameter and pitch, and find the matching G, R, NPT, metric, UNF or PG thread.
Level, flow, humidity, vibration
- Level to pressure calculatorHydrostatic pressure of a liquid column, and the range to calibrate a level transmitter to.
- Dew point and humidity calculatorDew point, absolute humidity and mixing ratio from temperature and relative humidity, or the other way round.
- Flow rate converterVolume and mass flow in every common unit, and flow against differential pressure on an orifice or other DP flowmeter.
- Vibration converterAcceleration, velocity and displacement of a sinusoidal vibration in peak, RMS and peak-to-peak, with the severity zone.
Ratings and specifications
- Ex marking decoderWhat an ATEX, IECEx or NEC hazardous-area marking means, and whether the equipment suits your zone, gas group and ignition temperature.
- IP rating decoderIngress protection codes explained numeral by numeral, with the test behind each one and a check against the rating you need.
- Sensor accuracy spec converterPut a datasheet's "±(% of reading + % FS)", tempco and stability into one number at your reading, in units, % of reading and % FS.
RTD tables
Thermocouple tables
- Type K thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
- Type J thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
- Type T thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
- Type E thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
- Type N thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
- Type R thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
- Type S thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
- Type B thermocouple chart: mV vs temperature table°C°F
NTC thermistor tables
- NTC 10k β3950 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 10k β3435 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 10k β3380 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 100k β3950 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 50k β3950 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 5k β3950 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 10k β3977 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 10k β3988 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 20k β3950 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F
- NTC 47k β3950 thermistor chart: resistance table°C°F