Articles

RSS

Giga-tronics announced recently the introduction of Model 8300 and Model 8400 switching chassis' for its ASCOR switch products optimized for integration into Automated Test Equipment (ATE). With these two new models, test engineers and managers gain access to more than 30 years of signal switching experience and tailored switching solutions for ATE.

The Model 8300 switch chassis and Model 8400 switch chassis are 3U (5.25" high) rackmountable units with a LAN and IEEE-488 interface and a built-in resource manager. The Model 8300 has four card slots which will support any of Giga-tronics' ASCOR line of 3000 Series switch modules. The Model 8400 has 8 card slots which will support any of Giga-tronics' ASCOR line of 4000 Series high-density switch modules. With the Model 8400, switch modules can be internally inter-connected through a 32 single-channel or 16 differential-channel analog bus with > 500 MHz bandwidth. This feature allows the creation of large switch systems without the need for external cabling that may be lossy, have loosely matched impedance, and have widely varying lengths. The result is a switching solution with the ultimate signal integrity.

Walt Strickler, Vice-President of Business Development for Switching Solutions, said "Switching is probably the most overlooked and undervalued part of automated test system design. Even with the most sophisticated test instrumentation, the performance of a test system is only as good as the switching system routing the signals. With many engineers inexperienced in switch system design, we ask ‘Why Struggle?'."

Giga-tronics offers more than 200 switch modules with frequency ranges from DC to 40 GHz and power switching up to 20 AMPS as well as DMM and frequency counter instrumentation. Giga-tronics not only uses its expertise to recommend the most appropriate switching modules, but also frequently designs and produces new switching solutions for emerging requirements, tailoring the switch to the application.

Giga-tronics is much more than a switch vendor. Being a manufacturer with decades of experience in microwave test equipment (synthesizers, amplifiers, power meters and analyzers) and microwave components (YIG oscillators, filters and sub-assemblies) as well, it is uniquely positioned to apply a total system perspective to ensure an optimally performing switching system, transparent to the tests being conducted.

About Giga-tronics
Founded in 1980, Giga-tronics Incorporated, headquartered in San Ramon, California, is a leading engineering-and-design manufacturer of best-in-class RF and microwave signal generators, microwave power amplifiers, USB power sensors, microwave power meters and tailored switching solutions. R&D, production and calibration managers, scientists, engineers and technicians, around the world, use Gigatronics test equipment and achieve lower cost, higher productivity and greater ease of use in many applications: ATE systems, aerospace & defense, communications and general component test. For more information, visit: www.gigatronics.com

SOURCE: Giga-tronics, Inc.