Radar Display USB Interfaces
Ballard Technology, of Everett, Wash., introduced the USB 708, a line of portable avionics interfaces that enable computers to communicate with ARINC 708 and similar weather radar display databuses.
The USB interfaces allow engineers and technicians to test weather radar Control-Display Units (CDU) and Transmit-Receive units using any available PC, according to the company. They also are used for monitoring, recording and playing back data, as well as simulating weather radar systems. The system incorporates Plug and Play and Hot Swap features for easy installation and movement between computers, according to the company. Ballard said the USB 708 supports maximum data throughput and simultaneous operation on all channels. Word length and pre-sync pulses are software-selectable to support custom protocols that deviate from ARINC 708.
Two channel (1 receive, 1 transmit) and four channel (2 receive, 2 transmit) models are available and each includes 8 avionics discrete I/O, 48-bit hardware time-tag and IRIG synchronization/generation. Visit www.ballardtech.com.
OpenVPX Board
Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing introduced the VPX3-1256, a 3U OpenVPX single board computer (SBC) based on the new Intel Core i7 next generation quad-core processor.
The board is designed for harsh environment, air and conduction-cooled aerospace applications, including unmanned aircraft systems, tactical aircraft and rugged naval systems. It is available with up to 8GB of high-bandwidth DDR3 SDRAM (1333 MHz) and comes with high-speed I/O, including dual Gigabit Ethernet, Gen2 PCIe or SRIO, four USB 2.0 ports, and an XMC/PMC site supported with eight lanes of PCI Express.
Visit www.cwembedded.com.
Recorder TSO
L-3 Aviation Recorders, of Sarasota, Fla., received FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) C197 Information Collection and Monitoring Systems approval for its Lightweight Data Recorder, Model LDR 1000.
The LDR 1000 is compliant with the qualification and documentation requirements of EUROCAE Document ED-155, Minimum Performance Specifications for Lightweight Flight Recording Systems.
L-3 said the LDR is well-suited to the law enforcement, air ambulance and offshore oil and gas exploration aviation markets, where Flight Operations Quality Assurance, Flight Data Monitoring and Helicopter Operations Monitoring Program initiatives are becoming more prevalent.
Visit www.l-3ar.com.