Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Comments on Summing op-amp 10 meters long

Parent

Summing op-amp 10 meters long

+2
−0

I’ve a linear sensor array (broadside). The array is 10m long and it contains 20 sensors. There’s a limit on the number of wires. I can have a handful of wires running the length of the array, but can’t have an individual wire going to each sensor.

I need to sum the signals form the sensors. For the purposes of this question, I’d like to sum in analog. Could a summing op-amp with a 10m long summing node work for this purpose?

The bandwidth of the signal is under 1 kHz, if that matters.

diagram

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

0 comment threads

Post
+1
−0

Yes, that should work. Each sensor is then dumping a current related to its measurement onto a single common wire. Basically, the sensor outputs are summed because currents add.

10 m shouldn't be an issue for 1 kHz. The harder problem is avoiding external noise pickup. Make sure everything is shielded to the extent it can be.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

1 comment thread

External noise pickup (2 comments)
External noise pickup
misk94555‭ wrote 8 days ago

I'm concerned about external noise pickup too. 10m of cable will pick up main AC noise in the bench environment, at the very least. That’s within the band of my sought signal. In principle, I could create a “difference of sums [for lack of a better term]” op-amp. I could make each individual sensor output a differential signal, and connect them into a common differential twisted pair.

TonyStewart‭ wrote 5 days ago · edited 5 days ago

For common-mode e-field, you need to consider all sources are unbalanced but fortunately low impedance. If necessary use a TIA with a current loop into a remote termination R=100.

STP wire will help lower ingress with the shield terminate at one end only to avoid unintended ground loops.

A CM choke will help if you can find one in the >1H range to raise the CM impedance. It may look like a 1:1 transformer.

Filters may also be necessary to match your signal BW down to the resolution required. e.g. -40 dB BW for other transient interference.

It all depends on what SNR is required.