Product Description:

The EL4712 is an analog output EtherCAT terminal manufactured by Beckhoff as part of the EL EtherCAT Terminals series. It is designed to generate two simultaneous, high-precision voltage channels that can be synchronized with other nodes across an EtherCAT network, supporting fast automation tasks where deterministic timing is required. This makes the terminal suitable for control systems that need repeatable analog signaling and closely timed updates across multiple I/O points.

The terminal integrates a distributed clock with a jitter of < 100 ns, so both outputs can align with master and peer events without noticeable timing skew. Each channel can refresh at up to 100 ksamples/s, enabling rapid waveform generation for drives or signal simulators. When an application needs finer temporal granularity, the device supports an oversampling factor of ×100, which allows 100 sub-updates during one EtherCAT process cycle. Output data are handled with a signed resolution of 16 bit, which provides 65,536 discrete levels for accurate amplitude setting. Power drawn from the E-bus remains moderate at 100 mA, which helps limit load on the backplane supply.

The two outputs share a single-ended ground reference and can drive resistive loads down to < 500 Ω while being fed from a field supply of 24 V. Signals are converted simultaneously, so phase errors between channels are avoided. The process image uses n × 2 × 16-bit user data, plus 2 × 16-bit control data and 4 bytes of status, allowing compact mapping inside the controller. Safe operation is supported by the terminal’s IP20 housing, tolerance for up to 95 % relative humidity, and installation on a 35 mm mounting rail. An interference deviation of 5% limits linearity error, and the terminal can use its maximum oversampling count without exceeding that figure.