Hello, everybody.
My name is John Kenny, and I'm a technology manager for Keysight.
And I'm here today to talk to you about the new E36311A, 12A, and 13A Triple Output Power
Supplies.
These are our latest introduction into our general-purpose bench power supply family,
and they're really exciting products – probably more exciting than you've ever seen in a DC
power supply.
I'd like to show you several things that we've added to these to kind of enhance the experience
relative to our older products, typically like the E3631A.
Right off the bat, you can see we have a large graphics display on this product – very
similar, in fact the same, as the existing DMMs, function generators, and counters.
And this was done very deliberately, because customer feedback was that we need to see
full voltaging current on all the outputs of a multiple output power supply at the same
time.
Now, we have it on our higher-end bench product, the N6705C, but never before did we have that
capability in our base product like the E3631A.
You had to select which of the three outputs you wanted to see at a time.
And it was very clear that we needed to improve on that in order to get greater usability,
which was a keynote set of features we wanted to add to this product.
So we have the ability to see all three outputs at the same time.
You could also highlight one of the three outputs, which you can select to see more
detail about it, more of the detailed settings for that output over the other two.
Now, this graphics display gives us the ability to set up more capability than we ever could
before in a product.
And we took full advantage of that on the E36311A, 12A, and 13A.
And a great example of that is data logging.
Datalogging is a new enhancement that allows you to log voltaging current on the outputs
over time.
And this data logging capability is critical if you're trying to minimize power consumption
of your device under test.
But in addition, however, we've added a new capability previously only found in our more
expensive products, which is low-range current measurement.
These products can measure down to less than 100 microamps of current, so you can characterize
battery drain over long periods of time over a very wide range of currents, in the case
of the 6-volt output as high as 10 amps down to under 100 microamps.
And that's never been available at this kind of price point before.
The other capability you can see in this is the ability to set up output sequencing.
Now, output sequencing is something that's become more common as parts and ICs, things
like FPGAs and microprocessors use multiple supply voltages.
And they require that the outputs turn on in a very specific sequence, either up or
down.
We offered this feature in the N6705C for the first time, and customers were really excited.
But this is the first time we've been able to bring that capability to a product at this
price class.
You can control the relative time with millisecond resolution between the three outputs.
And you can turn all the outputs on and off simultaneously with a single press of a button.
With that timing control between the three outputs, you can then can turn them off.
You also, if you like, have individual control of the outputs just by pressing a button for
that output – all color coded.
Okay.
So you can see that our display now has a very rich set of capability.
We also have the ability to have list sequences, which are the ability to have voltaging current
and time pairs to create step sequences through different tests.
And this is useful for complex burn-in setups and several other requirements.
So the display really gives us that ability to show all these kind of capabilities in
this type of product when before, we just couldn't do it.
You'd have to have a computer program, or you'd have to have some type of a function
independent of this.
And strong customer feedback was they wanted it built into the product.
So a couple of other capabilities I wanted to illustrate for you here was the ability
to control both voltaging current with separate knobs.
We got strong feedback that people didn't want to have to use menus to switch the functionality
of a single knob.
So we have independent voltaging current control, which allows you to go and turn the voltaging
current settings up, as you can see, independently.
We also have numeric keypads so if you want to enter the value for your setting directly
because you know it needs to be 4.2, you can pop in 4.2 very quickly.
And that was also strong feedback that many times people have very specific settings.
They want to go to 5.25 or 3.0, and they don't want to have to turn the knob to get it close
in there.
Next thing I wanted to talk about was our binding post.
We have full-output binding posts for all the outputs.
And something we've added relative to the E3631A was the E3631A had output Two and Three
locked together, wired together directly.
On the E36312A and 13A, these are completely independent and floating.
And this gives you more flexibility for your test setup.
So if want the two to be common ground or you want them to be plus and minus, you can
do either one.
Furthermore, if you want to tie them together, you don't have to run wires between the outputs.
You can electronically switch them into auto-series mode, and they'll wire with internal relays
together.
And they'll also measure the complete voltage between the two outputs as a single voltage
so you can get higher voltages that way up to 50 volts.
In addition, you can also go into what we call auto parallel and it'll actually create
a single output that's twice the current of either of the two 25-volt outputs for those higher
current applications.
And again, that's all done electronically.
It reports one voltage, which is the common voltage, one current, which is the common
current.
And it reconciles all the messy status, so if one output's in a different mode than the
other, it tells you the single mode for the net power supply you get.
So the binding posts are great, but as you notice, there's only enough binding posts
for us to bring the output voltaging current out the output.
There's no sense on the front panel.
And frankly, with the kind of currents that you can deliver on these products as high
as 10 amps, if you want the kind of accuracy that we talk about for our specs, and we have
some of the best accuracy in this product class, you really need to use remote sense
in some cases.
So another enhancement we added relative to the E3631A – we added rear connections.
And on those rear connections, we have full remote sense.
And that remote sense is fully switchable electronically from local to remote sense.
And you have that for Output One, Output Two and Three – full access to that on the rear.
And the rear panel connections in themselves are important because a lot of customers want
to use this on the bench, or they want to use it in the system.
Once they get their test program worked out on the bench, they want to mount one of these
right in their system.
So you can then run all your wires on the back without having to dress them from the
binding posts.
You can use these two-piece connectors, which are much easier to wire up.
And then you can plug them in after you're done.
It also makes it – if you have to remove this for any reason to service or support,
it's very quick without changing any of the wiring.
A couple of other high notes on the rear, we have a digital I/O.
This is very useful feature which allows you to trigger the output changes.
It also allows you the output to generate triggers if any faults occur.
You can shut the outputs down due to any emergencies in the system, a panic switch or if someone
opens a fixture, you can wire that in.
You can also use that if you need more than the three outputs and you want to control
sequencing for six outputs, for example two boxes, you can slave them together.
One button press, they all turn on or all turn off.
So it's a very capable set of digital I/O. And it's fully compatible with all our other
products that have the same type of connector.
So the N6705C can be connected, or our modular dc power supplies, which are the N6700C, 01C and 02C can all
be connected together with this product so if you need higher currents which are available
in those products, they can all be linked.
A couple of other things to point to, we have LAN, USB, and optional GPIB.
Now, the 11 only comes with USB.
The 12 and 13 come with LAN and USB, and both offer optional GPIB, which is user field insoluble.
You can order it from the factory with it, or you can install it yourself after the fact
if you find out you need it.
So altogether, very flexible set of capabilities as you can see from the rear.
And the last thing is this big fan you see in the back.
The fan is actually a revolution for us.
This is the quietest bench power supply we've ever made, and we believe it's the quietest
in its class.
And we deliberately designed this to be extremely efficient.
So this fan spins very slowly and very quietly.
In fact, before it was on, and you couldn't hear it all.
As you can see, that's the quietest you can get.
So overall, a lot of things have changed.
This is not an E3631A anymore.
This is really the new standard for bench power supplies.
So this is John Kenny reporting to you from Keysight.
Thanks for watching.