User manual
Output
Channel
Select
Header
(JP1)
Upper Channel
Lower Channel
Source (+)
Bridge (+)
BCR
2
Excitation (+)
Sensing (-)
Source (-)
Bridge (-)
Sensing (+)
Excitation (-)
Excitation
Regulator
2
2
+
-
MUX
MUX
G
1
G
0
Gain 
Adjust
P1
Address Lines
Jumper
Jumper
Low-Pass Filter
Offset
Adjust
Scaling
Amplifier
Unity Gain
Buffer
Input Gain
Amplifier
(Note 1)
a
f
LPF
V
0
A
dj
V
Ref
These indicated lines connect to 
Source (+) and Source (-) lines of
the Lower Channel Circuit. 
BCR stands for Bridge-Completion
Resistors.
Gain 
Adjust
1
2
DC Coupling
AC
Bypass
Filter
5 mV
Address
Recog.
S1
DBK16 Block Dia
g
ram
A wide-range excitation regulator is adjustable from 1.5 to 10.5 VDC with a current limit of 50 mA. The 
DBK16 requires a 12 to 15 VDC external excitation voltage that can be supplied from the DBK30A battery 
module or other user-supplied source. 
Hardware Setup 
CAUTION 
Each regulator has a maximum current of 50 mA. The maximum amount of 
excitation that can be provided by the DBK16 excitation regulator is represented by 
the following equation: 
V
EXC[MAX] 
= 0.05 × R
GAGE
Where R
GAGE
 = the resistance of 1 element in the bridge circuit. 
Exceeding the maximum allowed excitation can cause the DBK16 to fail. 
Card Connection 
For DBK16s, the strain gage is configured as a 4-element bridge. There are 4 legs in a bridge circuit; the 
quarter, half or full designation refers to how many elements in the bridge are strain-variable. A quarter 
bridge has 1 strain-variable element; a half bridge has 2; and a full bridge has 4. Each DBK16 channel has 
locations for bridge completion resistors. These resistors of fixed values are necessary to fill out the bridge 
configuration. 
In the following diagram, a 4-element bridge-type strain gage is referenced to the upper and lower channel 
bridge completion resistor designations for the DBK16. 
Bridge resistors are used in either the DBK16 or the strain gage, 
but not in both at the same time. 
DBK16, pg. 2  879895  DBK Option Cards and Modules 










