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Update on February 1, 2026: Crest Factor is added to SVT-V series true real-time wireless vibration & temperature sensors.

While Velocity and Acceleration RMS (Root Mean Square) are excellent indicators of overall vibration energy and general machine health, they can sometimes mask early-stage faults that produce high-intensity, short-duration impacts. The Crest Factor (CF) can help resolve this issue to detect early-stage faults. Crest factor is the ratio of the peak amplitude of a vibration signal to its RMS value.

An increasing crest factor is a leading indicator of fatigue. It allows maintenance teams to identify "impacting" events (such as spalling or pitting) long before the overall vibration levels reach an alarm threshold.

Crest factor allows users to tell bearing conditions in early stage without complicated frequency domain analysis. Crest factor should be used with acceleration rms and velocity rms together for machine condition monitoring. As a bearing fault progresses, the Crest Factor actually drops. This is because early faults create sharp, isolated spikes (high Peak, low RMS = High C.F.). As the damage spreads, the machine becomes constantly noisy, which causes the RMS to rise and "swallow" the spikes (High Peak, High RMS = Low C.F.). Velocity rms and acceleration rms will go up steadily instead. Therefore, it is recommended to set up the alarm threshold with acceleration rms or velocity rms along with crest factor.

Pro Tip: Always monitor RMS alongside Crest Factor. If the Crest Factor starts going down while the RMS is going up, your machine is in the final stages of failure and needs immediate attention.

Starting from February 1, 2026, SVT-V series wireless vibration sensors will be shipped with firmware 3.0 that outputs velocity rms, acceleration rms, crest factor and temperature in real time.

Vibration analysis software BroadVibra version v2.9.3 and above is required to support crest factor of SVT-V sensors.

Previous updates: The best true real-time wireless vibration & temperature sensors just gets better. There are many advantages on Broadsens's popular SVT-V series real-time wireless vibration monitoring product line:

1. True real time with fast response. The wireless vibration sensors can monitor vibration events in real time with fast response and long-lasting battery life. Using a sophisticated dual-mode sampling algorithm, the sensors maintain a continuous vigil while preserving a battery life of up to five years or more. No other wireless vibration sensors come close to its performance in terms of performance, physical size, weight and reliability.

2. Easy usage with minimum vibration monitoring experience requirements. SVT-V series wireless vibration & temperature sensors are optimized for simple usage and effective vibration monitoring. Users can tell machine condition with minimum vibration monitoring experience required. This allows the sensors to be used by technicians with basic skills.

3. Wide coverage of applications. Real-time wireless vibration sensors SVT200-V is ideal for high sensitivity applications such as spindle machines and semiconductors; SVT300-V is designed for general usage for most applications such as steel plants, power plants, motors and pumps, and SVT400-V is designed for high acceleration range applications such as railroad applications or high vibration machines.

4. Intelligent algorithm to adjust sensitivity automatically. SVT-V series wireless vibration & temperature sensors have intelligent algorithm that automatically adjusts their measurement range for easy usage and maximum flexibility. When the vibration level is low, the sensors use low acceleration range to increase their sensitivity; when the vibration level is high, then sensors switch to high acceleration range automatically. SVT200-V has a maximum range of 8g, SVT300-V has a maximum range of 16g, and SVT400-V has a maximum range of 64g.

5. ISO 10816 vibration monitoring standard. There is no need to manually remove acceleration RMS offset at the BroadVibra vibration analysis software . SVT-V series wireless vibration sensors newly improved intelligent algorithm removed the DC offset automatically. BroadVibra software includes ISO 10816 vibration velocity reference table, which makes it more convenient to tell the vibration severity of machines. This feature makes it very convenient for machine condition monitoring. Please note that for different applications, the threshold level may vary. Users should find the proper threshold level by comparing the velocity rms of faulty machines with normal machines.

6. For applications where the gateways are far away from sensors, SVT-LV series long-range wireless vibration and temperature sensors can be used. For example, SVT200-LV functions exactly the same as SVT200-V, but with three times range of SVT200-V. Therefore, users can seamlessly switch to the long-range sensor in long-range applications or environments with strong interference.

Wireless vibration sensors SVT200-V, SVT300-V and SVT400-V require to be used with Broadsens's wireless gateway and BroadVibra vibration monitoring software. The innovative design of Broadsens's ultra-low power communication protocol allows the system to achieve the best battery efficiency in the industry. The wireless vibration sensors, wireless gateways and vibration monitoring software provide an intelligent solution for predictive maintenance and machine condition monitoring.

Broadsens has released server-based vibration monitoring software BroadView for advanced wireless vibration & temperature sensors and other low power sensors. Different from the BroadVibra vibration monitoring software that runs on the edge-computing gateways, the server-based vibration monitoring software can be hosted either on a cloud platform or a server on premise (hosted and managed within an organization's own physical facilities). The server software further enhances Broadsens's position as the leading wireless vibration & temperature sensor provider in the industry.

The server software manages and receives data and alarms, and plots vibration trends and alarms from multiple Broadsens edge-computing gateways. Each edge-computing gateway supports multiple advanced wireless vibration & temperature sensors. The architecture allows a user to have an unlimited number of wireless vibration & temperature sensors, since each sensor is associated with its gateway, and there is no limit on how many gateways a server supports (as long as the server has enough memory and processing speed). By leveraging the edge-computing ability of the gateways, the server can minimize its resource requirements.

The server software can be hosted on a cloud server, so that users can access the data anywhere remotely. Alternatively, the server software can be hosted on a local network, which is shieled completely from outside for maximum security.

The server software also introduces the asset concept, so that users can manage their assets effectively. When a user logs in, the overall assets and sensor information are shown in the front page.

The server saves wireless vibration & temperature sensor data from multiple edge-computing gateways via MQTT protocol. The server also plots vibration trends for each sensor, so that user can easily see the machine condition change through the progress of time. Data from multiple wireless vibration & temperature sensors can be plotted at the same time for comparison. By comparing data from a normal machine and problematic machine, users can tell the machine condition, and predicts its operation life effectively.

Currently, the server software is limited to Broadsens customers only. Please contact Broadsens for sales.

The long wait is over! Industrial first Wireless Optical Speed sensor (tachometer) WOS200 is formally released in March 2025. WOS200 is a completely wireless  rotation speed sensor powered by battery that allows for remote monitoring with multiple years of battery life. No more messy cables and installation is so much easier than before! The sensor battery can be replaced at the end of life in the field easily by a technician. Compared to hall-effect tachometers, optical speed sensor allows for much longer distance between the machines and the sensor. Due to high power consumption of optical LED, there are many technical challenges to overcome to design a true wireless optical rotation speed sensor. After spending lots of engineering efforts, Broadsens made it happen.  The world's first true wireless tachometer for online monitoring is ready to ship now!

Wireless speed sensor (tachometer) WOS200 is a great add-on sensor to Broadsens's comprehensive machine condition monitoring product line that includes wireless vibration & temperature sensors, wireless high temperature sensors, wireless ultrasonic thickness sensors and wireless IMU. WOS200 further improves the leadership of Broadsens in the field of predictive maintenance and wireless low-power sensors.

All Broadsens wireless sensors can be used with the edge-computing gateways for long-lasting remote monitoring. Monitoring software is preinstalled in the gateways with life-time license, no subscription required.