04-09-2018, 11:18 AM
"Someone says, "You don't have to buy expensive BESS tester, you just need BESS media and a cheap kitchen scale."
How can you dispute this opinion?"
Thank you for the question Sharpco and your answers Ken and KG. In our opinion, using BESS test media and a cheap scale would be imminently more informational than cutting paper or shaving arm hair. Therefore, a step up. But then again, a washboard and a tub was a step up from beating your clothes on a flat rock next to the creek. The washboard and tub is not as efficient a laundering system as the modern washing machine but, we assume, would represent a smaller, initial, capital investment.
We're all for cutting costs and do so at every opportunity around here but, in this case, it's simply not a practical solution. There are some things that have to be done correctly or you're just spinning your wheels. The PT50 Series is a system and not just test media and a scale. That system includes high speed electronics, custom software and algorithms, specially designed mechanical measuring platforms and a means to accurately hold, dispense and accurately affix test media and all these things in a repeatable fashion.
The PT50B updates the display every 100ms when the force applied is ascending in value, the PT50A every 40ms. The average, inexpensive, kitchen scale does so every 1.5 seconds. That's 15 times slower than the PT50B. Speed is critical to accurate measurements in that we want to capture, as closely as possible, the actual moment of severing. If one were to use a very expensive laboratory scale, one that acquired information as fast as the PT50B, there would still be problems remaining. The human eye integrates image information over a 200ms period of time. If data were coming in at a rate faster than 200ms (millisecond) you might never actually even see a good portion of it. That's why the PT50 Series captures and holds the final result, so that that your eye can integrate and fully interpret it.
Here's something that you might find interesting and illustrates this whole optical integration thing. Take two different pulses of light, A and B. Both are of the same, exact, intensity (brightness) but A's pulse duration is 200ms and B's is 100ms. Your eye will detect both of these very simple images but your brain will tell you that B appears to be only half as bright as A. If the pulse duration of B is then extended to 400ms while A remains at 200ms your brain will tell you that both are of equal intensity. They've both been fully integrated. More complicated images of short duration (like rapidly flashing numbers) are a little different. They may be interpreted as just blurs.
The best instruction though is to look at Ken's answer. Even with the other benefits provided by the PT50B system present, he didn't experience very satisfying results until he pressed his SHARP CHECK key. We've even addressed that issue though; you don't have to press the SHARP CHECK key any longer, the new PT50Bs come up in SHARP CHECK mode automatically.
How can you dispute this opinion?"
Thank you for the question Sharpco and your answers Ken and KG. In our opinion, using BESS test media and a cheap scale would be imminently more informational than cutting paper or shaving arm hair. Therefore, a step up. But then again, a washboard and a tub was a step up from beating your clothes on a flat rock next to the creek. The washboard and tub is not as efficient a laundering system as the modern washing machine but, we assume, would represent a smaller, initial, capital investment.
We're all for cutting costs and do so at every opportunity around here but, in this case, it's simply not a practical solution. There are some things that have to be done correctly or you're just spinning your wheels. The PT50 Series is a system and not just test media and a scale. That system includes high speed electronics, custom software and algorithms, specially designed mechanical measuring platforms and a means to accurately hold, dispense and accurately affix test media and all these things in a repeatable fashion.
The PT50B updates the display every 100ms when the force applied is ascending in value, the PT50A every 40ms. The average, inexpensive, kitchen scale does so every 1.5 seconds. That's 15 times slower than the PT50B. Speed is critical to accurate measurements in that we want to capture, as closely as possible, the actual moment of severing. If one were to use a very expensive laboratory scale, one that acquired information as fast as the PT50B, there would still be problems remaining. The human eye integrates image information over a 200ms period of time. If data were coming in at a rate faster than 200ms (millisecond) you might never actually even see a good portion of it. That's why the PT50 Series captures and holds the final result, so that that your eye can integrate and fully interpret it.
Here's something that you might find interesting and illustrates this whole optical integration thing. Take two different pulses of light, A and B. Both are of the same, exact, intensity (brightness) but A's pulse duration is 200ms and B's is 100ms. Your eye will detect both of these very simple images but your brain will tell you that B appears to be only half as bright as A. If the pulse duration of B is then extended to 400ms while A remains at 200ms your brain will tell you that both are of equal intensity. They've both been fully integrated. More complicated images of short duration (like rapidly flashing numbers) are a little different. They may be interpreted as just blurs.
The best instruction though is to look at Ken's answer. Even with the other benefits provided by the PT50B system present, he didn't experience very satisfying results until he pressed his SHARP CHECK key. We've even addressed that issue though; you don't have to press the SHARP CHECK key any longer, the new PT50Bs come up in SHARP CHECK mode automatically.