Add performance, simplicity and robustness to your designs with the Mercury™ 1800 kit encoder. Just introduced by MicroE Systems, it is the smallest encoder to provide up to 50-nanometer or 100 nanometer resolution directly from the sensor. The sensor, which measures 8.9mm high, contains all signal processing and interpolation electronics.

This makes the Mercury 1800 quick to install and ideal for high-noise environments since there are no remote electronics required. "We expect the new Mercury™ 1800 to open the door to higher performance, as well as important system size and cost reductions," stated Michael Fitts, vice president of marketing, "Bottom line, the new Mercury 1800 offers the best value in a high-performance digital kit encoder today."

The encoder may be ordered with a choice of two interpolation levels: x 200 or x 400. These interpolation levels provide resolutions of 100 or 50 nanometers, linear or up to 6.5 million CPR, rotary, directly from the sensor. In addition, the system comes standard with a 1 LSB bi-directional optical index. This allows system startup and recovery at full encoder resolution.

What's more, the Mercury encoder index is built into the scale and requires no installation. Competitive encoders offer low-speed Hall sensor indexes that are time-consuming to install, often have to be adjusted to work correctly, operate at limited speeds and can only be read from one direction.


The Mercury 1800 delivers more than "Best-in-Class" performance, its integral bi-directional
optical index means easy setup and superior operation.

Competitive encoders offer low-accuracy Hall sensor indexes that are difficult to install and provide low accuracy position data from only one direction.


Competitive encoder manufacturers make life difficult for designers who need an index. In this case, the index is a one-direction Hall sensor that is mounted adjacent to the scale. It requires additional assembly and operates only at low speeds, limiting motion system performance.

Two connector options are available: The model M1800S is fitted with a standard high-density D-sub connector and is completely EMI shielded. The M1800H is equipped with a high-density micro connector for very tight spaces. A wide variety of glass linear and rotary scales are available from stock, however custom design configurations can be accommodated. Importantly, the same M1800 sensor operates in both linear and rotary applications.


As with other digital output Mercury encoders, the M1800 features an A-quad-B output that is RS-422 compatible. Wide alignment tolerances, common to all Mercury encoder models, allow setup in under 30 seconds. Setup can be accomplished in seconds using the SmartPrecision™ Alignment Tool; no test gear or specialized training is necessary to perform sensor alignment or to establish index-mark recognition. Our optional SmartPrecision™ software provides additional features, including digital read out in the engineering units of your choice and Lissajous data plots for additional setup and diagnostic functions.

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