About Dickson Data Loggers

If maximum flexibility in how and when you analyze data is paramount, a Dickson Data Logger is your recording instrument of choice. Dickson Data Loggers monitor and record critical environmental conditions – temperature, humidity, pressure, or other electronic signals. Logged sample points are stored on a Dickson Data Logger’s hard drive for later download to a PC or laptop. Dickson’s wireless data loggers even do this downloading automatically! Dicksonware software makes it easy to view data in graphical or tabular form and export it to whatever data analysis applications you choose.

Reliable – Accurate – Stable – Easy-to-Use

The data loggers that Dickson manufactures are designed to make critical data capture worry-free. Because Dickson offers the widest variety of data loggers available in the world, you get to choose the logger features that are best-suited for your application. Do you want the convenience of graph-at-a-glance data loggers that enable you to monitor conditions as you walk by? Do you want the convenience of wireless data loggers that handle data downloading automatically and also help you avoid all wiring issues? Small as a coin? Watertight? With multiple alarms? Easy data mobility with FLASH memory cards? Yes, all these features and more are available to answer all your application needs. (Click here for the Data Logger Selection Guide.)

How to Choose a Data Logger

1. What variable(s) are you monitoring?
Dickson offers data loggers that monitor several variables including: Temperature, Temperature and Humidity, Pressure, On/Off Event and Power Quality. Our Universal Input Data Loggers use powered voltage or current transmitters giving them a wide variety of applications including, Ph, moisture, pressure and more.

2. What range are you monitoring?
Temperature, Temperature & Humidity and Pressure loggers all operate within a specific range. For example some temperature data loggers monitor only from -4 to 158°F, while other models with remote probes can monitor from -300 to +2000°F. Our Pressure loggers record pressure from 0 to 100, 300 or 500 PSI. While you want to make sure that the range you are monitoring fits within the specified range of the data logger, there is no need to worry about the range being too wide.

3. How often to you need to collect data?
There are two features you need to consider when determining data collection capacity: Sample Rate and Sample Storage.

Sample Rate is a user selectable feature that lets you determine how frequently the data logger takes a reading. Some data loggers let you sample every second, while others start sampling at every 10 seconds in 10 second increments. Depending on your application you might only need a sample every 10 minutes to monitor storage conditions, while process monitoring and testing might require continuous detailed sampling every second.

Sample Storage is the number of samples that can be stored in a data logger's memory before it needs to download or begins to write over old data. Depending on how often data is downloaded and upon the sample rate selected, you may require a logger with a large sample storage capacity. For example, a single channel data logger that stores 32,512 sample points that is set to a sample rate of one minute will run for 22.5 days before the memory is full. If the same data logger is set to a sample rate of every 5 minutes, it will run for 112 days before the memory is full.

4. Where will the data logger be placed?
The Dickson data logger line features, waterproof units, stainless steel models and models designed to withstand extreme temperatures. In addition, probe models give you the flexibility to monitor remote locations and extreme temperatures while keeping the data logger at a safe distance.

5. Do you need to spot check data without downloading?
Several data logger models feature current/min/max displays giving you on the spot information. Other models feature graphing displays allowing you to view a detailed graph of data without downloading.

6. Additional features to consider:

• Size: Make sure the logger will fit the location you wish to use it in. Some logger models are slightly larger than a quarter making them perfect for tight locations and monitoring goods in transportation.
• USB/Serial: Do you require a USB connection?
• Audio/Visual Alarm: Do you require an alarm?
• Flash Memory: Some models now allow for One Step Data Transfer using removable SD Flash Memory Cards.
• User Calibration: Do you require the ability to calibrate while in the field?
• Push to Start: This feature lets you start recording data with the push of a button.
• Networking: Using Dickson MP100's you can create a network of Dickson Data Loggers that let you setup and download logger data without leaving your PC.

Wireless, Networked, or Standalone?
Will your workplace be best served by an easy-to-set-up wireless data logger or do you prefer that a logger be hardwired into your company’s network? Or, is this an application where data is best transferred with FLASH memory cards or by physically moving the logger to a PC for infrequent data downloading?