Datastick Systems, Inc. -- News Release
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bradlee Sweigart, V.P. Faron Melrose Communications
Public Relations Counsel for Datastick Systems, Inc.
Phone: 408-615-5772
Email: bjs@faronmelrose.com
New Datastick Peripheral from Datastick Systems, Inc., Brings Multipurpose Data Acquisition Capability to 3Com's Palm Computing Platform for the First Time Ever
Adding Sensors to the Datastick Peripheral Allows Palm Connected Organizer to Act as Handheld Data Logger
Measures, Records and Displays in up to Six Channels Simultaneously for Data such as 3-D Magnetism, 3-D Acceleration, Temperature, Pressure
CAMPBELL, CA, July 12, 1999 -- Datastick Systems, Inc., today announced the first customer shipment of its new 6-channel Datastick Data Acquisition System DAS-1206, which, for the first time, gives 3Com's Palm Computing Platform Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) the capability of acting as a handheld multipurpose data acquisition system.
The Datastick Data Acquisition System consists of a peripheral plus software that loads into the Palm Organizer. The hardware snaps onto the modem connector on the PDA to provide a multi-channel port for field measurement and logging concurrently, in real time, from up to 6 analog sensing units.
With the addition of sensors, it allows the measurement, recording and display of such analog data as 3D magnetism, 3D acceleration, temperature, pressure and much more. It is compatible with the Palm III and Palm IIIx handhelds as well as the PalmPilot Professional Edition with upgrade card.
The Datastick Connection software loads onto the Palm handheld to make the device ideal for a wide range of applications including environmental, industrial, educational, safety, laboratory, and research and development.
"Many data acquisition applications in the field can be done quickly and easily using a Palm Organizer with the Datastick device instead of software on costly laptops or proprietary data-logging instruments. It brings a new level of portability and ease of use to the instrumentation market," said Steve Sabram, president of Datastick Systems, Inc.
The software provides three viewing modes: numeric display; real-time histograph with custom-formattable patterns; and real-time graph with custom-formattable lines and symbols. A quick-display legend that explains the graph in detail can be selectively removed from the display to maximize the viewing area of the graphic.
"Home and hobby interest has ranged from monitoring the temperature and barometric pressure, to temperature measurement during the home brewing of beer to acceleration and wind-speed measurements during skydiving," said Michael D. Scandling, Vice President of Marketing.
The hardware provides six channels for analog input, as well as a ground line and an external trigger line that allows the addition of a device to start and stop the recording process.
The Datastick system permits user-adjustable sampling intervals between 250 milliseconds and 12 hours. Readings are recorded in the database, which can be exported to a personal computer for later analysis in spreadsheets and statistical packages.
The software provides a feature found for the first time on any PDA instrument: it allows users to compensate for a sensor package's nonlinear sensor response curve by custom-editing the sensor-response conversion functions and thus viewing real-world, linear readings.
The Datastick data acquisition device is powered by two alkaline or rechargeable-alkaline AAA-sized batteries in a compartment in the Datastick unit.
The Datastick DAS-1206 is priced at $295 and includes the Datastick plug-in peripheral, Datastick Connection software, and cables to connect the customer's sensors. It was previewed in December 1998 at the PDA Expo in San Francisco by Datastick Systems, Inc.
Datastick Systems, Inc., is located at 1608 W. Campbell Ave., Suite 291, Campbell, California 95008, in Silicon Valley. For more information, call Datastick Systems, Inc., at 408 615-5774, fax 408 615-5778, or visit the web site at www.datastick.com.
