Quote: (Originally Posted by
jradomski)
using a lower "voltage" allows the designer to use a higher gain when using op amps.. the higher the gain the more stable op amps are in general.. You need to design it so that the multiplied output fits within a certain range.. most low voltage a/ds use a reference voltage between 1.5 and 2.5 volts.
Joe,
Thanks for the response. Without a background in electronics I assumed that part would be easy (it's just a voltmeter right). Without much effort I did find a low power consumption 12-bit-adc that can measure up to 5v analog input (has a 4.096v internal reference?). Here's the link
http://datasheets.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX187-MAX189.pdf. I'm sure my electronics guy would argue that this could be done with a 10-bit circuit, etc, etc.
So if the hardware/electronics weren't the limiting factor would a 25 mV sensor that was +/- 2mV be more reliable/robust than the 10 mV sensors?
-Jeff