Eaton MTL FBT-6 Fieldbus diagnostic monitor

• Fieldbus powered

• Device add & drop indication

• Shield short indication

• Measures low, fieldbus and high frequency average and peak noise

• Measures signal level for all segment devices

• Assesses network health

• Connects to intrinsically safe fieldbus in Zone 1 and Division 1

hazardous areas

• Connects to non-incendive fieldbus in Zone 2 and Division 2

hazardous areas

• Uploads measurement data to a PC via USB port

The Fieldbus diagnostic monitor, FBT-6. is used to examine the

operation of a live Foundation™ fieldbus H1 network without interfering

with its operation. The Monitor is intended for maintenance personnel to

verify network operation or to troubleshoot an errant network.

The FBT-6 checks for retransmissions from each device on the

segment, providing a key performance indicator of the networks health.

Measurements of bus voltage level, device signal level, and peak and

average noise level. It displays the number of devices present on the

segment and indicates when devices are added or removed from the

network. It also detects the presence of a short between either of the

signal wires and the cable shield.

Modern fieldbus commissioning procedures require various bus

parameters to be measured and recorded. Key parameters include bus

voltage, signal level for each device and noise level on each segment

or at every device on each segment and recording the results allows

a baseline of the fieldbus physical layer to be established. The FBT-6

collects  this data, and allows up to eight file sets of data to be saved

for uploading to a PC via a USB port. The data is uploaded as a tab

delimited text file and may then be used to create comprehensive

commissioning and operations reports. Considerable savings can be

achieved by reducing commissioning time and verifying the accuracy

of the data on the segment.

Data collected from periodic network verification testing or

during troubleshooting can be simply transferred to a file for easy

comparison to the segment baseline/history measurements. Data can

be displayed as tables and graphs using commonly  available software

such as Microsoft® Excel.

Hand-held for portability, the FBT-6 is powered by the fieldbus

so that no batteries or external power source is required. It includes

colour- coded test leads and an LCD display.