FT742-DM Ultrasonic Wind Sensor
Designed for ultra-high reliability in all extreme weather conditions.
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- Description
- Specifications
Description
FT742-DM Ultrasonic Wind Sensor by FT Technologies are the world’s toughest wind sensor. It is designed specifically for use with drones and UAV launch and recovery sites and docking stations. With pipe mount for ground station use.
This compact sensor delivers highly accurate and consistent wind speed and direction data in all extreme weather conditions and immune to RF emissions.
The FT742 DM (Direct Mount) is designed to mount on a standard 33.7mm pipe. With a 12-30VDC power supply range, the DM is ideal for permanent, portable or rapidly-deployable weather stations and ground stations used to monitor wind speed and direction conditions for UAV take-off and landing.
Small yet very rugged, it is easy to heat even at low power. With no moving parts to degrade or damage and resistant to shock and vibration, it is easy to transport and will perform consistently time and time again. The hard anodized aluminium body is highly resistant to corrosion, sand, dust, ice, solar radiation, and bird attack. The sensor is sealed to IP66 and IP67 standard.
Features
- Measures wind speed, direction and temperature
- No moving parts, maintenance free
- Compact size and shape make it physically strong
- Powered by Acu-Res Technology – gives a signal 40dB stronger than other ultrasonics
- Acu-Res software automatically compensates for changes in air temperature, pressure and humidity
- Hard anodised aluminium body is corrosion resistant to ISO9227 & IEC1294, corrosion class C5M
- Thermostatically controlled heating system – ideal for use in extreme environments
- Fully-sealed and waterproof to IP66 and IP67
- Shock-resistant, immune to vibration, electromagnetic interference and solar radiation
- Operates at temperatures between -40 and +85 degrees Celsius
- Resists icing conditions to MIL-STD-810G
- Operates at altitudes up to 4000m
- No exposed parts – resistant to bird attack
- Low power usage – even when heated
- Wind speed can be output in m/s, km/h or knots
- Mobile, easy to integrate – mounts directly to pipes with an outer diameter of 33.2mm – 34mm
- Available with digital RS485HD or analogue 4-20mA interface
- Individually calibrated in wind tunnel; no re-calibration required
- Calibration results traceable by serial number, report available upon request
Learn more about the world’s toughest sensor by watching this video, here.
Applications:
- Weather stations
- Defense hurricane research
- Cold climate monitoring
- Portable met masts
- Airports
- Harbours
- Railways
- Alpine Resorts
- Dynamic Positioning Systems
- Buoys
- Mining
The small footprint, light weight and ease of integration of our sensors make them ideal for meteorological applications in the defence and aerospace sectors, such as on board unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and at unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ground launch and recovery stations.
The sensors achieve high accuracy within the measured air speed range of 0-75m/s, and have been used as a pitot tube replacement on fixed-wing UAVs. With full 360° air speed direction measurement, they are ideal for station-keeping and hovering on quad-rotor UAVs, as well as dynamic positioning control in gusty and turbulent environments.
Related Product: FT742-SM Surface Mount Ultrasonic Wind Sensor
About FT Technologies
FT Technologies specializes in the design and manufacture of high performance Acoustic Resonance wind sensors – also known as anemometers or air-flow sensors. All our sensors incorporate our own patented Acu-Res® Technology which enables them to deliver reliable wind speed and direction data, from compact, lightweight sensors. Users typically experience over 99.9% data availability, even in harsh climates with the toughest weather conditions.
Dimensions
Sensor height: 161mm
Sensor width max: 56mm
I/O connector width max: 22mm
Mounting pipe external width: 33mm
Mounting flange width: 45mm
Wind Speed
Range: 0-75m/s
Resolution: 0.1m/s
Accuracy:
+/- 0.3m/s (0-16m/s)
+/- 2% (16-40m/s)
+/- 4% (40-75m/s)
Wind Direction
Range: 0 to 360 degrees
Resolution: 1 degree
Accuracy: 4 degrees RMS
Sensor Performance
Measurement principle: Acoustic Resonance (automatically compensates for variations in temperature, pressure & humidity)
Units of measure: Meters per second, kilometers per hour or knots
Altitude: 0-4000m operating range
Temperature range: -40 to +85 C (operating and storage)
Humidity: 0-100%
Ingress protection: IP66 and IP67, EN 60529
Heater settings: 0-55 C. the heater set point can be configured
Power Requirements
Supply votage: 20V to 30V DC (24V DC nominal). Supports 12V battery operation with reduced heatercapacity
Supply current (heater off): 31mA typical
Supply current (heater on): Limited to 4A (default), 6A (max) – configurable in software in 0.1A increments. Heater power consumption will depend on the energy required to keep the sensor’s temperature at the user determined set point. The heater and sensor power consumption is limited by default to 99W.
Physical
I/O connector: 5-way (RS485 option), 8-way (4-20mA option) multipole connector
Sensor weight: 380g
Digital Sensor
Interface: RS485, galvanically isolated from power supply lines and case
Format: ASCII data, polled or continuous output modes, NMEA 0183
Data update rate: Maximum 10 measurements per second
Error handling: When the sensor detects an invalid reading, a character is set in the wind velocity output message. This error flag character is 1
Analogue Sensor
Interface: 4-20mA, galvanically isolated from power supply lines and case
Format: One 4-20mA current loop for wind speed (different scaling factors are available). One 4-20mA current loop for wind direction (datum value configurable as 4mA or 12mA). Both analogue channels are updated ten times per second.
4-20mA configuration port: this port is for the user to change the internal settings of analogue sensors and to perform diagnostic testing. This interface is not intended for permanent connection to a data logger or other device.
Error handling: When the sensor detects an invalid reading then both speed and direction current loops will dop to a default value of 1.4mA (configurable up to 3.9mA).
EMC and Environmental Tests
The FT7 Series have passed over 28 different environmental test certificates including: Corrosion, Icing, De-icing, Shock, Hail, Drop, ESD, short circuit, power interruption, and EMC. Further test details and full test reports available on request.