News

Anritsu has introduced the VectorStar ME7838G broadband vector network analyser (VNA), the industry’s first VNA capable of making measurements from 70 kHz to 220 GHz in a single sweep. By offering unprecedented frequency coverage, the new VectorStar VNA allows engineers to more accurately and efficiently characterise devices over a much broader range of frequencies to provide accurate device models, thus optimising the chance for accurate simulations and opportunity to reduce design turns.

Consistently providing the industry’s widest single sweep broadband coverage for improved device modeling is achieved because the VectorStar VNA system incorporates the Anritsu Non-linear Transmission Line (NLTL) millimeter-wave (mmWave) modules. An innovative design allows the 220 GHz probe to connect directly to the mmWave module for accurate, stable on-wafer measurements, thereby avoiding the limits of coaxial connectors at sub-terahertz frequencies.

The 220 GHz ME7838G leverages Anritsu’s proven VectorStar broadband platform’s ability to go beyond traditional boundaries in a single sweep without the need to reconstruct the wafer probe station from 110 GHz to higher waveguide bands. Because of the design, engineers can measure a wide range of circuits on the same wafer without transferring from a coax microwave VNA to coax mmWave VNA or waveguide mmWave VNA. The system reduces measurement time of the entire wafer, improves measurement accuracy of wideband devices by eliminating the need for waveguide concatenation, and delivers wafer probe station cost efficiencies by reducing the number of VNA reconfigurations.

The ME7838G addresses the market need to conduct on-wafer measurements that span into the upper mmWave frequencies for more accurate device characterisation. The VectorStar-based broadband system gives engineers confidence in the systems they are designing by characterising the devices from near-DC to well beyond the operating frequency, for more accurate modeling.

IDEAL Networks will showcase its range of certifiers, data cable testers, network testers and IP CCTV testers at the BICSI Winter Conference in Tampa, Florida, USA from February 10-12, 2020.

A team of experts will be available at stand 531 to discuss and demonstrate some of IDEAL Networks’ most popular products that help cable installers and network technicians to work accurately, productively and profitably.

Among the products being demonstrated at the show is the new LanTEK IV cable certifier which sets a new industry standard, saving time and helping improve profitability. Launched as ‘The Future of Copper and Fiber Cable Certification’, LanTEK IV provides a 7 second test time for Cat 6a cable and certifies links up to Cat 8, including TCL and Resistance Unbalance measurements.

The unique tester has changed certification forever, with the new VisiLINQ permanent link adapters which enable Field Technicians to initiate testing and view the results, all without the need to carry or touch the certifier.  LanTEK IV users also benefit from improved collaboration, configuration and reporting capabilities with the new IDEAL AnyWARE Cloud test management system. (Also available as desktop software.)

So that delegates can learn more about the IDEAL AnyWARE Cloud system, IDEAL Networks is also delivering a 5-minute ‘What’s New, What’s It Do?’ presentation dedicated to this during the show. The session takes place at the BICSI Theater on Tuesday February 11 at 5:40pm.

Visitors to the IDEAL Networks stand at the BICSI show can also learn more about FiberTEK IV, which can be used with LanTEK IV for fast and simple certification of high bandwidth single-mode and multimode fiber optic cabling including support for encircled flux testing.  FiberTEK IV provides optical loss (dB) measurements meeting Tier 1 certification requirements.

Other IDEAL Networks products on display include the PoE Pro tester, SignalTEK CT and SignalTEK NT transmission testers and the SecuriTEST IP for testing digital/IP, HD coax and analogue CCTV camera systems.

“We’ve recently introduced a number of user-friendly test and measurement tools designed to make installing, testing and maintaining data and network cabling and devices simpler, while complementing our existing range of proven and popular products,” says Tim Widdershoven, Marketing Director for IDEAL Networks. “We’re excited to give visitors to the BICSI show a chance to get hands-on with our wide range of solutions and see for themselves the difference that they can make.”

The BICSI Winter Conference and Exhibition 2020 will cover topics such as 5G, Data Centers, Power over Ethernet, Smart Cities, Internet of Things, Audiovisual, Wireless and DAS, Optical Fiber and PON, amongst others.  The show takes place at the Tampa Bay Convention Centre from February 10-12, 2020.

Casella’s Dust Detective provides short-term boundary and environmental monitoring in both indoor and outdoor environments.

Able to monitor over 12 hours on its internal batteries, the lightweight, portable equipment is the ideal solution for monitoring levels of harmful dust on site.

Encompassing the Microdust Pro real time dust monitor and the Apex2 air-sampling pump, the Detective unit is easy to assemble, providing real time data that can be easily downloaded for analysis and reporting. This allows users to identify the trends in dust levels, areas of concern and hot spots that require action.

The simple to use, unobtrusive and ruggedised black enclosure features quick release clips around the measurement probe, allowing fast setup times.

For more information, please visit www.casellasolutions.com

RPI UK has installed two integrated rotor measurement and assembly platforms (iMAPs) at Delta Airlines; the Rolls-Royce approved MRO facility.

RPI is the world’s leading specialist developer and manufacturer of precision positioning devices for high accuracy rotary and angular inspection systems. The Atlanta-based Delta Airlines facility carry out maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of all Rolls-Royce Trent engines in the United States.

In addition to the iMAPs, RPI has also supplied Delta with Trent series 03 and 04 module tooling sets significantly reducing set up times and helping to improve the overall performance of the measurement process.

Jim Palmer, RPI’s sales manager, said: “We’ve been working with Rolls-Royce for over 30 years so it’s great news that both Rolls-Royce and Delta – their approved MRO facility, are choosing to invest in iMAP which has been independently verified to give significant operational improvements over traditional measurement methods.”

“With world-class accuracy, our iMAP machine achieves higher levels of quality while helping our customers save money and resources. This is achieved by significantly reducing inspection times and the need for costly rotor teardowns due to inefficient rotor assembly optimisation.”

RPI’s iMAP is proven to reduce inspection times by 90% and improve gauge repeatability and reproducibility by up to 10 times. The technology is used by Delta after the engines are dismantled, to inspect each individual section of the engine for cracks, wear and distortion. Measurements are taken by AccuScan to check the components geometry meet their original and regional board specifications as part of the stringent MRO process.

Once the components have been approved, repaired or replaced, the iMAP is used for engine assembly to ensure alignment and concentricity is correct and balanced as each section is rebuilt.

iMAP’s data acquisition software AccuScan enables measurement of up to 4,000 data points on up to eight surfaces simultaneously per revolution, thereby reducing process times to just two minutes; a significant time saving compared with other available methods.

This significantly improved inspection data is then used by the Rotor Stacking software to optimise the assembly of each component relevant to its neighbour to achieve minimum runout or unbalance of the finished rotor. This technology is absolutely fundamental to ensure the operational quality of the engine entering back into service, for optimal reduction in vibration, greater fuel efficiency and longer service intervals.

Specifically designed to inspect large and heavy components, RPI’s iMAP machines are fully compatible with any shop floor environment whilst maintaining world class accuracies more commonly seen in the standards laboratory.

Combining a motorised high precision air bearing rotary axis, rigid column unit, anti-vibration granite base and AccuScan multi-channel circular geometry inspection software, IMAP is the definitive system for productivity improvement in turbine rotor assembly.

Convert, a manufacturer of cable looms and harnesses, is celebrating doubling its assembly area from 5,500 sq ft to 11,000 sq ft after investing in additional premises.

Established in 2006, Convert supplies the automotive, transport, marine and scientific sectors, manufacturing cable looms and harnesses for car lights and a range of industrial, medical and marine equipment.

Dave Lord, Convert’s Managing Director, said: “It’s great to mark the start of a new decade by officially moving into our expanded assembly area.   We’d grown considerably over the past couple of years and needed additional space. Luckily a unit became available next to our existing factory and we’ve spent the past several months converting it to suit our requirements.”

The Kent-based company, which boasts 43-strong highly skilled staff, designs and develops a wide variety of cable looms and harnesses, often from early project stage, servicing both low and high-volume requirements.

Convert boasts the latest automatic cable processing machines including two Artos CR11 and a Komax Gamma 255, which excels at small wire handling.

Convert Ltd will be exhibiting on Stand P133 at the Southern Manufacturing and Electronics between 11-13 February 2020.

The head of a leading Midlands firm of robotics engineers says the company’s success can be attributed to its commitment to apprenticeships.

Fraser Reid, managing director of Warwickshire-based Cyber-Weld, says apprentices are making a significant contribution to the business. More than half of the Cyber-Weld workforce are either apprentices in training or who have recently completed their training. The company has been taking business-ready apprentices from the Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre for the last seven years.

Cyber-Weld has taken on part-trained apprentices undergoing their four year course. He says the apprentices who have been trained at the MTC are skilled in engineering basics, have the discipline required in the workplace, and a proven ability to learn.

“MTC apprentices are generally of a very high standard. They have been exposed to modern manufacturing techniques as well as being schooled in the basics. We are able to train them in the full range of disciplines here and they are a real asset. They return our commitment to them and their training with loyalty and we have a very good retention rate,” he said.

Cyber-Weld, which was founded in 1999 and has its manufacturing facilities in Southam, supplies robotic engineering and robot integration services to a range of sectors including automotive, nuclear, aerospace and oil and gas. The business has more than 150 customers worldwide.

The company currently employs three MTC apprentices. Matthew Pierson, who has completed his course and is going on to a degree qualification funded by Cyber-Weld, Dalraj Singha and Ben Ellis who are both in their third year.

Fraser Reid said they place a great deal of trust in their apprentices and are rewarded by loyalty and a genuine contribution to the bottom line.

“With an appropriate level of supervision we encourage our apprentices to use their initiative. They are involved in specifying and purchasing software, developing processes and working on profitable projects. In turn they impress and earn the respect of our clients. Supported by the MTC’s infrastructure, we get young, versatile and experienced employees with a wide range of skills vital to our business,” he said.

David Hughes MBE, interim managing director of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre, said, “MTC apprentices are exactly what manufacturing industry needs to fill the high-tech jobs of the future. Our apprenticeship courses have the advantage of not being company-specific or sector-specific, so the result is a fully-rounded apprentice capable of filling the most demanding of manufacturing and engineering positions. Several of our apprentices have gone on to win awards and accolades for their skills. Fraser at Cyber-Weld is one of many employers who are finding that an MTC-trained apprentice is a real asset to their business.”

The MTC was founded by the University of Birmingham, Loughborough University, the University of Nottingham and TWI Ltd. The MTC’s industrial members include some of the UK’s major global manufacturers.

The MTC aims to provide a competitive environment to bridge the gap between university-based research and the development of innovative manufacturing solutions, in line with the Government’s manufacturing strategy. The MTC is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, supported by Innovate UK.

ETL Systems, a global designer and manufacturer of leading RF distribution equipment used in the ground segment of the satellite communications market, has received significant investment from CBPE Capital, to support its management’s ambitious growth plans.

The business is embarking on further expansion, designed to take advantage of positive market drivers in the satellite industry and solid industry conditions.

ETL serves various end markets including broadcasting, energy, defence, government and maritime and has a distinguished track record of growth and technological innovation in support of its international client base. The company is the recipient of multiple industry accolades including three Queens Awards in recent years.

Ian Hilditch, CEO of ETL Systems, said: “We are very excited to welcome the team from CBPE Capital, who will add a new level of support and experience to help us to grow our global customer footprint and accelerate bringing new technologies to market. CBPE has a proven track record within the technology sector, having partnered with some great companies.”

“ETL is building on an impressive track record of growth of its range of RF distribution products, which are manufactured at our purpose-built facility near Hereford, UK.  We export over 80% of our products to satellite customers around the world.”

Jolyon Latimer, Partner at CPBE, said: “ETL is an excellent company with a reputation for product quality and innovation, a blue-chip international customer base and is led by a strong management team. The business operates in the attractive and growing satellite communications market and is well placed to capitalise on the opportunity ahead of it. We are delighted to have the opportunity to support the management team in delivering the next stage of ETL’s growth strategy.”

Failing Dry January?  2020 Resolutions already broken?  This time of year can be depressing – so much so, they even call January 20th “Blue Monday”!

Well, why not make one resolution now, which could completely transform your working environment this summer?

Rittal’s climate control team will be on hand at Drives & Controls 2020 (Stand 610) to discuss your enclosure cooling systems.  A quick review in spring, while temperatures are still low, could mean you have lots more time to do more useful tasks as things warm up.

In winter and early spring, you probably spend considerably less time thinking about enclosure climate control systems than in the summer.  Not surprisingly perhaps – when the outside temperatures dip, you’re much less likely to be responding to the alarms from your cooling systems.

But in fact, right now is the best time of year to turn your mind to your enclosures and carry out a climate review in order to understand what changes or improvements need to be made.

During the summer, of course, everything is very different, particularly if you rely on fan and filter cooling.  These are of little help when the ambient temperatures in your workplace are higher than you want inside your enclosures!  So, take some time over winter to assess your enclosures and make whatever changes are needed to ensure that, when temperatures do rise, you are free to spend your time on more useful tasks than simply firefighting.

It’s important to remember that every degree above your set-point will be time removed from the life of your expensive equipment, including PLCs, variable speed drives and transformers. Collectively, this can easily have a replacement value that tops £100,000, even in a relatively small setup. If you replace only 2 per cent of that equipment each year because of burnt-out componentry, then the costs can quickly mount up and it’s an entirely unnecessary spend.

But it’s not just the cost of repair and replacement of the actual componentry. There are also the add-on operations costs caused by componentry breaking down and stopping the processes it controls. This lost output will continue for as long as it takes to repair the fault, and is bound to have consequences for your wider business, impacting productivity and efficiency, and thereby reducing profits.

Correct climate control is often overlooked during the installation of electronic equipment because the focus is all on the equipment, not on regulating the environment that it operates within.

This is where Rittal can help you, we are the world leaders in enclosure climate control products and pride ourselves on being your trusted advisor.

With our RiAssure service, one of our trained staff can visit you and provide a FREE Cooling Review. This review is a short visual inspection of your existing enclosures and cooling equipment; from this we can ascertain the next best step for your equipment and also provide ongoing, best practice, suggestions so that your operations benefit from increased longevity, life and profit.

So, make this your best-ever resolution in 2020 and reap the benefits of the optimising your climate control.

A new law will protect millions of users of internet-connected household items from the threat of cyber hacks, Digital Minister Matt Warman announced today.

The plans, drawn up by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), will make sure all consumer smart devices sold in the UK adhere to the three rigorous security requirements for the Internet of Things (IoT).

These are:

• All consumer internet-connected device passwords must be unique and not resettable to any universal factory setting
• Manufacturers of consumer IoT devices must provide a public point of contact so anyone can report a vulnerability and it will be acted on in a timely manner
• Manufacturers of consumer IoT devices must explicitly state the minimum length of time for which the device will receive security updates at the point of sale, either in store or online

The sale of connected devices is on the rise. Research suggests there will be 75 billion internet connected devices, such as televisions, cameras, home assistants and their associated services, in homes around the world by the end of 2025.

Digital Minister Matt Warman said: “We want to make the UK the safest place to be online with pro-innovation regulation that breeds confidence in modern technology.

“Our new law will hold firms manufacturing and selling internet-connected devices to account and stop hackers threatening people’s privacy and safety.

“It will mean robust security standards are built in from the design stage and not bolted on as an afterthought.”

The measures were developed in conjunction with the business industry and the National Cyber Security Centre  and set a new standard for best practice requirements for companies that manufacture and sell consumer smart devices or products.

Following on from the consultation, Government’s ambition is to further develop legislation that effectively protects consumers, is implementable by industry and supports the long term growth of the IoT. Government aims to deliver this legislation as soon as possible.

Nicola Hudson, Policy and Communications Director at the NCSC, said: “Smart technology is increasingly central to the way we live our lives, so the development of this legislation to ensure that we are better protected is hugely welcomed.

“It will give shoppers increased peace of mind that the technology they are bringing into their homes is safe, and that issues such as pre-set passwords and sudden discontinuation of security updates are a thing of the past.”

This  follows the government’s voluntary Secure by Design Code of Practice for consumer IoT security launched in 2018. The Code advocates for stronger cyber security measures to be built into smart products at the design stage, and has already been backed by Centrica Hive, HP Inc Geo and more recently Panasonic.

The Government is working with international partners to ensure that the guidelines drive a consistent, global approach to IoT security. This includes a partnership with standards bodies. In February 2019 the European Standards organisation published the first globally-applicable industry standard on consumer IoT security, which is based on the UK Government’s Code of Practice.

Matthew Evans, director of markets, techUK said: “Consumer IoT devices can deliver real benefits to individuals and society but techUK’s research shows that concerns over poor security practices act as a significant barrier to their take-up.  techUK is therefore supportive of the Government’s commitment to legislate for cyber security to be built into consumer IoT products from the design stage.

“techUK has been working on these three principles for the past four years. We support the work to ensure that they are consistent and are influencing international standards.

“We look forward to working closely with Government and industry to ensure the implementation of the legislation provides protection for consumers whilst continuing to promote innovation within the IoT sector.”

John Moor, Managing Director, IoT Security Foundation said: “Over the past five years, there has been a great deal of concern expressed toward vulnerable consumers and inadequate cybersecurity protection. Understanding the complex nature of IoT security and determining the minimum requirements has been a challenge, yet, after a thorough and robust consultation, those baseline requirements have now been universally agreed.

“The IoT Security Foundation welcomes the results of the consultation as it not only provides clarity for industry, it is great news for consumers and bad news for hackers.”

Analog Devices (ADI) has announced a strategic collaboration with Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) where Hyundai plans to launch the automotive industry’s first all-digital road noise cancellation system leveraging ADI’s Automotive Audio Bus (A²B) technology. Hyundai also intends to more broadly adopt ADI’s A²B technology for its fundamental audio connectivity and infotainment applications across its automotive fleet.

“As an early A²B adopter, we realised the potential of this technology for not only our Road-noise Active Noise Control (RANC) systems but also for other vehicle applications fundamental to passenger and driver experience,” said Dr. Kang-Duck Ih, Research Fellow, Hyundai. “The low latency guaranteed by A²B enabled us to implement this groundbreaking RANC technology and accelerate its deployment to mass production.”

Hyundai’s RANC system dramatically reduces noise within the cabin of a vehicle. The system can analyse various types of noise in real-time and produce inverted sound waves. For example, there are different types of road noises that the new technology can process, such as resonant sounds created between tires and wheels or rumble sounds coming up from the road.

“We have collaborated closely with Hyundai to architect its all-digital RANC system that leverages our A2B technology to reduce equipment cost, weight, and design complexity, and in turn, improve overall fuel efficiency – helping solve several challenges of the electronic RANC system,” said Patrick Morgan, Vice President, Automotive Electrification and Infotainment, Analog Devices. “ADI’s work with Hyundai demonstrates A²B’s increasing viability and further distinguishes Hyundai’s vehicles in today’s marketplace.”

A²B reduces cabling weight by up to 75 percent and improves automotive fuel efficiency and total system costs. ADI’s A²B is the industry’s lowest latency, high-speed digital interconnect technology distributing audio and control data together with clock and power over a single, unshielded twisted-pair wire. Current deployment of automotive road noise cancellation systems has been constrained by the availability of a cost-effective, low latency networking technology that efficiently connects required input sensors to a central processing unit. ADI’s A²B technology significantly reduces associated wiring harness cost and complexity found in traditional analogue-based road noise cancellation system deployments. For more information about A²B, visit: http://www.analog.com/a2b

ADI’s collaboration with Hyundai emphasises the growing importance of A²B for automotive manufacturers in emerging wiring intensive and latency sensitive applications, including road noise cancellation, in-car communications, and personalised audio or sound zones.