
PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION Page 37
C
YBER
A
MP
380, COPYRIGHT MARCH 2002, AXON INSTRUMENTS, INC.
Input Coupling
To properly measure the electrode impedance, one input on each channel should be grounded while
the other input is DC coupled. This is very important. If the electrodes on both inputs of a channel
have the same resistance and neither input is grounded during the Electrode Test measurement, then
the measurement will indicate that the total resistance is 0 kΩ. This is clearly wrong and is due to the
fact that measurements in the CyberAmp always report the difference between the signals on the
positive and negative inputs.
The total gain in the CyberAmp is often set to x10 for the Electrode Test measurement. If a higher
gain is used the acquired voltage should be divided by the gain to calculate V
in
.
If it is not practical to DC couple the input, AC coupling at 0.1 Hz is sufficient.
Strain Gauges
When using the Electrode Test facility with strain gages it is important to correctly interpret the
resistance measurement and the DC levels.
1) A typical gauge is shown in Figure 17. Each arm of the Bridge is nominally 350 Ω. Looking
back at the gauge from the positive input, the input resistance (R
in
) is R3//R4 = 175 Ω.
Similarly, looking back at the gauge from the negative input, the resistance is R1//R2 = 175 Ω.
2) During the Electrode Test measurement, one of the inputs must be grounded while the
resistance at the other input is tested. If the negative input in Figure 17 is grounded the positive
input sees the 2.5 V
dc
level as well as the 10 Hz signal due to the approximately 1 µA test
waveform. The response to this waveform is about 175 µV
p-p
(175 Ω x 1 µA
p-p
).
The simplest way to record this small peak-to-peak voltage against a large DC background is to
AC couple the positive input at 0.1 Hz. (Remember, the negative input is grounded in this
example.) The response to the test waveform will be marginally distorted by AC coupling at
0.1 Hz, but the accuracy of the resistance measurement will not be affected.
R3
R1
R2
R4
2.5 V
350
350
350
350
2.5 V
INPUT
INPUT
R
in
= 175
Ω
= 175
Ω
in
R
ANALOG GROUND
5.000 V
Figure 17. Special considerations when using Electrode Test with a strain gauge.
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