The Barton Model 818A Pre-Amplifier converts low-level AC signals from turbine meter pickup coils to a higher-energy digital pulse that can be transmitted to electronic processing instrumentation.
The signal is amplified locally at the flowmeter to elevate the signal energy above the ambient electrical noise, eliminating problems with noise being interpreted as flowmeter pulses by the receiving electronics.
In other applications, the receiving electronics are not sensitive enough to measure low-level signals; therefore, amplification is required. The 818A is one member of a family of flowmeter signal conditioning products.