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[June 2004]
Low Cost IR Thermometers Challenge Thermocouples
Non-contact thermometers that the maker says can be permanently substituted for disposable thermocouples without undue cost and technical complexity have been introduced by Land Instruments International (Dronfield, Sheffield, England).
An extension to Land's MF3 series of infrared thermometers, the new models have outputs that match the voltage/temperature correlations of Type J and Type K thermocouples so that they can be used without changing the calibration of downstream processing.
They are intended for industrial applications where thermocouples - and their attendant disadvantages, adds Land - are still commonplace. Overall measurement range is 0°C to 500°C, with an accuracy of 15% at an ambient 23°C, a response time of 300ms and repeatability of 1%.
With dimensions of only 18.6mm diameter by 118mm, the MF3 range is compact in both size and price, offering a good all-round performance with fixed emissivity compensation and a 5:1 field of view suitable for targets with a typical diameter of 60mm at a 300mm sighting distance.
Each thermometer is housed in a rugged stainless steel body and supplied complete with a 1m pre-wired cable for simple connection into existing systems without configuration or technical input from the manufacturer.
www.landinst.com
ENDS