PICO USB TC-08 User Manual (English)

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Technical reference

USBTC08044-2

Technical reference

3.1

Introduction

The USB TC-08 is supplied with driver routines that you can build into your own

programs. The USB TC-08 driver supports the following versions of the Windows

operating system: 98SE, ME, 2000, and XP.

Once you have installed the software, the

DRIVERS

directory will contain the drivers and a

selection of examples of how to use the drivers.

The driver is supplied as a Windows

DLL

. The DLL uses the C

stdcall

calling

convention and can be used with C, Delphi and Visual Basic programs. It can also be

used with programs like Microsoft Excel, where the macro language is a form of Visual

Basic.

3.2

Modes of operation

3.2.1

Introduction

The USB TC-08 is designed for three specific modes of operation to suit a variety of

applications. The following modes are supported:

Streaming mode

Get Single mode

Legacy mode

3.2.2

Streaming mode

is an operational mode in which the USB TC-08 unit samples data and

returns it to the computer in an unbroken sequence, using the onboard clock to ensure

accurate timing.

The unit can buffer up to two sets of readings at once. To avoid loss of readings, make

sure that another application on the PC - including the one you are writing - does not

prevent the driver from collecting readings for more than three sampling intervals.

To allow the driver to sample continuously, call the Windows

Sleep()

function in any

sampling loops (see example below) to make sure that your application does not use too

much processor time.

Hint:

Try not to use a

Sleep()

call for less than 50-100 milliseconds, e.g.,

Sleep(50)

Sleep(100)

. If you are programming a Windows GUI application, a good alternative

to sampling loops is the

WM_TIMER

message.

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PICO USB TC-08 Specifications

General

Number of Channels	8
Temperature Range	-270°C to +1820°C
Thermocouple Types Supported	B, E, J, K, N, R, S, T
Interface	USB
Operating System Compatibility	Windows, Linux, macOS
Operating Temperature Range	0°C to +50°C
Storage Temperature Range	-20°C to +70°C
Power Supply	USB
Sampling Rate	10 samples per second
Accuracy	±0.2°C