Virtual Tools
Sporty’s Pilot Shop, Batavia, Ohio, now offers Virtual Airspace and Virtual Airport computer-based tutorials. The CD-ROM programs use computer animation to turn 2D information into 3D, fly-through videos. Visit www.sportys.com.
Bypass Switch
Dow-Key Microwave, Ventura, Calif., has released its 3-GHz bypass switch. The panel-mounted switch can be used to bypass low noise amplifiers or filters in the event of a failure. Visit www.dowkey.com.
Ethernet Cables
From PIC Wire & Cable, Sussex, Wis., come new Gigabit Ethernet cables for onboard local area network (LAN) applications, such as data communications and in-flight entertainment. Visit www.picwire.com.
Rotary Switches
Digitran, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has introduced a line of miniature rotary switches for helicopter flightdecks and electronic instrumentation. The 67 series of switches has a low post-panel depth and fewer internal components. Visit www.digitran-switches.com.
Weight & Balance
Smartsoft, of Bodoe, Norway, has released two new versions of its weight and balance software for mobile phones. Flight WTK 2.0 and Flight WTK Lite allow users to perform these calculations on a mobile phone in as little as 40 seconds, Smartsoft says. Visit www.smartsoft.no.
Stripping Pot
Eraser Co., Syracuse, N.Y., has introduced a magnet wire stripping pot. The temperature-controlled unit holds a solution that strips the film insulation from magnet wires. Visit www.eraser.com.
T-Bag EFB
NavAero of Chicago has introduced an integrated, Class 2 electronic flight bag (EFB) for commercial, corporate and general aviation, priced at less than $5,000. The new t-Bag C22 EFB features a 1.6-GHz Intel Pentium M processor, which outpaces Class 2 competitors, the company claims. The central processing unit (CPU) also features a 40-Gbyte hard drive, a 512- Mbyte memory and 2 Mbytes of cache memory. The CPU is sealed and passively cooled, so there are no moving parts within the unit that could lead to failure.
The t-Bag C22 also incorporates navAero’s t-Pad display, which comes with a standard 8.4-inch active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) color screen with 600-by-600 pixel resolution. An optional 10.4-inch AMLCD display with 768-by-1024 pixel resolution also is available. Both screens are touch-sensitive for inputting commands and include brightness control and an on/off buttons on the front of the unit. They are sunlight-readable for cockpit use and dimmable for nighttime flying.
The t-Bag C22 operates on a Windows XP Professional platform and can run most types of aviation software, including Jeppesen charts, moving maps, real-time weather and terrain avoidance programs. It includes three USB, three serial and four Ethernet ports for connectivity. NavAero also offers, as options on the EFB, a solid state hard drive and a built-in ARINC 429 module. Visit www.navaero.com.
Interval Counters
Geotest-Marvin Test Systems Inc., Irvine, Calif., has announced its line of 3U PCI universal time interval counters, the GC22x0 series. The GC2210 measures frequencies up to 225 MHz, the GC2220 measures up to 1.3 GHz, and the GC2230 measures up to 2 GHz. All counters in the series have an internal clock source and support an external reference source. The GC22x0 series can be used to measure frequency and time intervals, and can be used with automatic test equipment systems. Visit www.geotestinc.com.
Rugged PMC
Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing has released a rugged, conduction-cooled PCI mezzanine card (PMC) designed for use in VME and CompactPCI embedded systems. The P429A ARINC 429 communications controller combines four channels of ARINC 429 (four transmit and eight receive) and four serial communications channels on one card. The P429A has two onboard ARINC 429 controllers, each with dual ARINC 429 tranceivers. It features 64 Kbytes of dual-port random access memory for serial communications and 8 Mbytes of Flash memory. Visit www.cwcembedded.com.
Monitor TAP
AIM GmbH, Freiburg, Germany, has introduced a monitor tap for avionics developers and airline operators that uses avionics full-duplex switched Ethernet (AFDX) and ARINC 664 networks. The fdXTap connects to a personal computer through a USB 2.0 interface and can be used to tap into AFDX and ARINC 664 networks to monitor the traffic between end-systems and switches. The small box contains two bus interface units that run 600-MHz Xscale processors and an IRIG-B time code generator/decoder. Visit www.aim-online.com.
I/O Module
From VXI Technology, Irvine, Calif., comes a new high-voltage digital input/output (I/O) module, the VT1802. The single-slot VXIbus module provides 120 single-ended or 60 differential channels that can be defined as inputs or outputs by the user. The output groups can be programmed to 28-volt or 73-volt levels. The company claims that the VT1802 is the ideal module for multiple-channel I/O applications that need to source up to 140 milliamps per channel and that it exceeds the capabilities of any other I/O solution on the market. Visit www.vxitech.com.
Single Board Computer
Aitech Defense Systems Inc., Chatsworth, Calif., offers a rugged C106 single board computer (SBC). The SBC is VME64x-compliant and features 1.5 GHz of processing power. The card is intended for harsh environment applications such as unmanned air vehicles. Visit www.rugged.com.
Video PMC
New from SBS Technologies, Albuquerque, N.M., comes the TS-Video PCI mezzanine card (PMC), a video capture and compression solution for camera-based, networked applications. It features two RS170 input video streams, which allow mixing of multiple video images, and a single RS170 output channel for data playback. It is powered by an Altera Stratix processor and includes an integrated MPEG-4 encoder. Visit www.sbs.com.
Ethernet Switch
Radstone Embedded Computing has announced two upgrades to its GBX16 managed Gigabit Ethernet switch. It now incorporates, as standard, Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) and is available with a rugged, 12-port optical expansion board (OXB) as a build option. IPv6 capability, which replaces the currently used IPv4, is obtained through a software upgrade that expands available IP address space (128-bit addressing) and allows the switch to classify and use IPv6 packets. The OXB was added to provide additional support for long-distance and electrically noisy networking applications. The updated GBX16 is the first fully rugged, fully optical and fully managed Gigabit Ethernet switch, Radstone claims. Visit www.radstone.com.
Communications Card
North Atlantic Industries, Bohemia, N.Y., has released a new three-module, multifunction, single-slot, VME communications card for embedded airborne applications. The 64DI VME unit allows the user to essentially mix and match three combinations of the following: six channels of synchronous or asynchronous RS-232C/RS-422/RS-485; two channels of dual-redundant, Mil-Std-1553 BC/RT/MT; eight channels of Profi-bus; and 48 channels of discrete input/output (I/O) or 48 channels of transistor-transistor logic (TTL) I/O. Visit www.naii.com.
Flight Tracking
AirCell has added automated flight tracking capability to its airborne telecommunications systems. Once an AirCell satellite tranceiver and lightweight tracking controller are installed in the aircraft, users on the ground can track the position of the flight in real time, using AirCell’s Flight Explorer software on any Internet-enabled PC. Tracking is accomplished through the use of AirCell’s Iridium-based satcom systems, which allow the planes to be monitored anywhere in the world. The aircraft’s GPS position is automatically transmitted through the satellite network at intervals selected by the user. Visit www.aircell.com.
Rugged Enclosure
From Hybricon Corp., Ayer, Mass., comes a new line of 10U, rack-mounted, high-power enclosures. The RME1021M series was designed to cool dense central processing units (CPUs) and digital signal processor (DSP) boards. The enclosures feature a stackable, compact design that suits vertically mounted cards. Dual impellers provide enough cooling for 125 watts per slot. Visit www.hybricon.com.
IFE System
Wencor, Springville, Utah, has unveiled an in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. The digEsystem will offer airline passengers a variety of in-seat entertainment options, including audio and video on demand. The IFE system is one-third the weight of a traditional installation and consumes one-third of the power. It features an 8-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) with touchscreen sensitivity to allow users to navigate content options. The digEsystem also comes with a 60-Gbyte hard drive and an 802.11a wireless network for content updates. The front of the unit provides a credit card reader for payment and a USB 2.0 port for optional use of keyboards, memory sticks or control devices for games. Visit www.wencor.com.