Dracal sensors as an alternative to National Instruments: When simplicity meets performance

The real-world success story

A recent customer shared their experience transitioning from NI to Dracal for a battery testing application. They needed to measure temperature, voltage, and current while charging and discharging portable power banks—critical data for designing better charging products. Using Dracal TMC200K USB thermocouple readers, they achieved full integration in just two days.

“Ihe USB thermocouple readers you sent are working wonderfully,” they reported. “Having the temperature built into the app is so helpful.“

What made the difference? Not just the hardware, but the complete ecosystem: easy-to-use command-line tools  for rapid integration, ready-made code examples, and responsive support that turned a two-day integration into a success story.

When Dracal excels as an NI alternative

1. Rapid test system development

When you need a test system operational quickly:

• Two-day integration time or less
• Ready-made code examples in C#, Python, Java, and more
• Command-line tools for immediate data logging
• No driver development or software configuration

2. Pre-calibrated, traceable measurements

For test engineers, measurement confidence is non-negotiable:

• Every sensor arrives pre-calibrated, providing ready-to-use data
• Traceability certificates available (purchasing option)
• No need for initial calibration procedures
• Confidence in your measurements from day one

3. Cost-effective test station scaling

Building multiple test stations or expanding existing ones:

• No expensive software licenses per station
• Each sensor is self-contained and ready to deploy
• Free tools included with every sensor
• Budget goes to hardware, not licensing fees
• Wi-Fi station with free ready-to-program CLI and REST API tools

4. Flexible Integration Options

Choose the integration method that fits your workflow:

• • Command-line tools for quick automation scripts
  • Direct serial communication for custom applications
  • LabVIEW integration for existing NI setups
  • All with provided code examples to get you started

Making the choice: NI or Dracal, or both?

The beauty of Dracal sensors is that you don’t always have to choose. With our extensive LabVIEW integration tutorials, Dracal sensors can seamlessly complement your existing NI infrastructure, giving you the best of both worlds. Here are some of them:

Choose NI when:

• You need complex, synchronized multi-channel acquisition
• Your application requires FPGA-based real-time processing
• You need specialized modules for specific test standards
• Corporate standards mandate NI hardware

Choose Dracal when:

• You need a test system operational in days, not weeks
• Pre-calibrated sensors with traceability are required
• You want to minimize software licensing costs
• You value responsive, 24-hour support
• You need to quickly scale across multiple test stations

Use both NI and Dracal when:

• You have an existing LabVIEW setup but need cost-effective expansion
• You want to add calibrated sensor points without additional NI modules
• Different test stations have different requirements
• You’re prototyping test systems before full deployment

The test engineer’s perspective

Our customer’s experience highlights what matters most to test engineers:

Speed: “It only took me two days to write the C# code to get the data from the TMC200K.”

Simplicity: “As they can be used as a USB COM serial device, the code was pretty straight-forward.”

Reliability: “The TMC200 worked perfectly.”

Support: “Having dealt with you for support has been a terrific experience.”

This isn’t about choosing the cheapest option—it’s about choosing the most efficient path to reliable test results.