On this model the sense voltage connection is available on the rear panel mounted 16-way connector. The special, mating connector is pictured in Figure 6. The unit automatically detects the sense input is active and displays shows this on the display. Ensure the remote sense is securely connected before the channel output is enabled; a flaky sense connection can cause the output voltage to fluctuate.

  A logging function is also available to allow instantaneous measurements to be stored to the internal memory or a USB memory stick. The measurement interval can be defined in the setup menu. The stored values can be in either .TXT format or .CSV format so that can be input to a spreadsheet like Excel. The really exciting aspect here is that the HMC8043 and the USB stick is all you need to automatically record readings for many hours, even weeks depending only on the size of the USB stick. No remote control by a PC is necessary at any point during the measurements, and the .CSV file loaded from the stick can produce charts almost instantly using Excel. This makes charging, monitoring and condition checking of all sorts of batteries and battery packs a pleasure to do.

Teardown

Case styling is consistent with other models in Rohde and Schwartz’s compact range — in fact without close scrutiny it’s quite difficult to tell the difference between the HMC804X power supply and the HMC8012 DMM. The case is a steel sleeve with a perforated upper surface and a polycarbonate end plate forming the front panel. Side vents are preferable for equipment used in general lab environments; there is less likelihood of wire clippings and debris falling into the case and stacked units don’t obstruct airflow. For a rack mounted installation this is less of a problem. The case size allows two HMC8043’s to be fitted side by side in a 19” rack (a 1-U gap is required above this unit).