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works nice (so far at least) for RTD readout

4.0

We bought an M301 and MC3132 for the purpose of reading out 16 RTD's with 4-wire connection. This seems to work just fine, we're happy with the system, plan to expand to 64 RTD's in the near future. Caveat: We have not much experience with it yet and still have to complete the software for remote operation, but I don't expect any serious difficulty.

Verified Purchase gv on Apr 16, 2020 I found this helpful (0)

Not for temperature measurements

2.0

Although the voltage measurements are as specified, the temperature measurements are not. Most of the temperature SCPI commands in the manual do NOT work. You cannot make thermocouple temperature measurements using a reference junction as there is none and commands for an external reference do not operate. All TC measurements are unreferenced and thus drift with room temperature. Also the RTD command do not operate. The US support for this was not helpful as they do not seem to understand the concept of a reference junction. No problems with a Keithley 2700 in these applications.

Tequipment and Rigol factory response: Reference Junctions are a critical capability for any thermocouple measurement system. The M300 provides 3 methods: Internal, Fixed, and External.
This is set by the command “ :TEMP:TRAN:TC:RJUN:TYPE XXX”
This can be set on a per channel basis. Care must be taken to properly configure the system. In order to use the external reference, the first channel that is capable of temperature measurements (often channel @101) must be configured as either a Thermistor, RTD, or 4 wire RTD in order to provide a reference without an additional junction. This is more completely explained on page 2-30 of the user’s guide. Once this first channel is configured in this way, then other channels in the system can be set as thermocouple channels and the External reference can be selected without error for these channels. Now, they will use the first channel as their junction reference temperature. In order to make correct measurements, the reference measurement must be at the same temperature as the location where the alloy forming the thermocouple connects to the system on the other side of the unknown measurement. This can be achieved through use of an isothermal block where the external reference can be held at temperature with the reference junction.
The other methods are easier to configure because they do not require a channel dedicated to the reference measurement. One is to use an internal reference within the M300’s switch system. This measures the temperature of the references when they are within the system. This can provide enough accuracy for many applications, but it is typically not as accurate as an external or fixed reference.
The fixed reference is the traditional method of getting high accuracy readings. This is also called a cold junction reference because it is traditionally done at 0 degrees C. If the reference end of the Thermocouple junctions are put into an ice and water bath, the ice bath keeps the reference at a very accurate 0 degrees C. The fixed reference value can be set to any degree value between -20 and 80, but the most common usages are either 0 degrees in the ice bath or at a known room temperature if the environment is stable enough.
If you have a temperature measurement application and have not gotten the support you need we apologize and would love a chance to help you get up and running. Please contact us at your convenience.

ejb on Jun 04, 2017 I found this helpful (1)

Difficult to program

3.0

Bought this because it was cheaper than the Keysight device but had similar specifications. This device is significantly more annoying to program. Timing of the SCPI commands can make the unit hang and in general the manuals are poorly written and missing important details. The first unit we received blew the dmm fuse on a regular basis. The replacement unit functions ok.

Anonymous on Oct 03, 2015 I found this helpful (0)