Electrical power signals source

Electrical Power & Protection

July 2005 Electrical Power & Protection

Comtest is offering what is believed to be the first truly universal power standard, the Fluke 6100A Electrical Power Standard. It represents an improvement to current calibration methods that lack appropriate accuracy or rely solely on pure sinusoidal signals that do not reflect the properties of electrical power in the marketplace.

Deregulation of the power industry is leading to an increase in the number of suppliers feeding into the world's transmission and distribution systems, as well as a great deal of variability in power quality. Undesirable phenomena such as harmonic distortion, noise and transients, and sags and swells are now common on power supply networks. This in turn is driving the need to make accurate, consistent measurements of power and power quality. Today's measurement technology is hampered in this effort by a lack of effective, accurate standards to calibrate power measurement instruments. This greatly impacts on the manufacturers of power quality measurement equipment and certification bodies who are the providers of primary measurement support and/or traceability to municipalities and large power users.

The Fluke 6100A is an accurate, multiphase, scalable system for calibrating power measurement tools to meet the new demands of the global market. With the Fluke 6100A, power and power quality measurement devices can be checked, verified, and calibrated with one instrument.

Undesirable phenomena can be reliably generated individually or simultaneously to determine the ability of these devices to detect and measure it under actual conditions. It provides an accurate, controllable source of pure sinusoidal electrical power, harmonically distorted electrical power, user definable sags and swells and user definable flicker.

The 6100A is also configurable from one to four phases, allowing users to create a system that matches their needs, but is also easily expanded. Consisting of a master unit, which provides the first phase, and auxiliary units that provide up to three additional phases controlled through the master unit, the Fluke 6100A is configurable to the differing power voltages and frequencies that have been adopted globally, enabling the user to select relevant values for the measurements being made. The Windows user interface provides familiar commands and settings, reducing the training required for user fluency.

Fluke says that its 6100A represents the first integrated system on the market to provide users the ability to guarantee the accuracy of the power measurement tools they design, manufacture, verify and calibrate, or use to make measurements. It is a suitable standard for power meters, power factor meters, power quality analysers, power recorders, and power meters with quality measurement capabilities.

Comtest is the sole authorised distributor of Fluke Industrial and Electrical test tools in southern Africa. Fluke is a world leader in the manufacture, distribution and service of electrical and industrial test tools solutions.

For more information contact Val Verwer, Comtest, 011 695 9162 [email protected]

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Electrical Power & Protection

Electrical power signals source

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