The V0603/V0805/V1008 Series of SMT miniature wire-bound ceramic chip inductors are designed to close inductance tolerances and feature high Q values and low d.c. resistance. A total of 189 part numbers are available in the series' three footprints. Tolerances of 2, 5, 10 and 20% are offered. The inductors are available with solder or gold terminations. Vanguard Electronics Corp., 1480 W. 178th St., Gardena, Calif. 90248-3277.
The AB Series of high-stiffness air bearings is designed for precision applications such as hard drive head testing and media certification. Their design minimizes air consumption, keeping it to a level of 6 liters/min. or less, as well as friction. This helps control the operating cost of systems that use the bearings. The AB-36RV is designed for 15,000 rpm., and has a rotor inertia of 243 gm./sq. cm., while the AB-50RV operates at 20,000 rpm. and has a rotor inertia of 4,815 gm./sq. cm. Canon U.S.A. Inc., Components Div.
Christopher Haakon has been named CEO, Daniel Gordon president/chief operating officer, Dave Buermeyer vice president/general manager of the Autometric Operating Group and Tony Moraco vice president/general manager of the Vision International Operating Group, all of Autometric Inc., Springfield, Va. Haakon succeeds Lou Brown, who is now chairman of the board.
LaserLab is a PCMCIA card-based power meter and beam position meter. It accepts inputs from silicon sensors, a temperature probe and a multimeter. The LaserLab can display power, ratios, position, volts, currents, ohms and temperature. As many as four sensors can be read and displayed for power sensing. Either a silicon sensor divided into quadrants or a lateral effect silicon sensor can be attached for beam positioning. Coherent Auburn Group, 2303 Lindbergh St., Auburn, Calif. 95602-9595.
The Model 2012XL Virtual Window is a 12.1-in., three-dimensional flat panel display. The display allows both single and full-motion stereoscopic images to be viewed at resolutions up to 1,024 X 768 pixels. The display can be used with a variety of operating platforms, including Windows 95 and Macintosh and accepts S-Video and standard NTSC inputs. Dimension Technologies Inc., 315 Mount Read Blvd., Rochester, N.Y. 14611.
The once super-secret National Security Agency is now offering several dozen NSA-developed technologies to U.S. companies for a modest licensing fee. A few of the techniques available under NSA's Technology Transfer program reflect one of the agency's primary missions--interception of foreign communications signals.
The Model 200 Leakmeter is designed for detecting R12 refrigerant, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)and other electron-capturing compounds. The detector is housed in a handheld unit that is attached to a main unit by an 11-ft. umbilical. A test object such as a helicopter blade can be pressurized with a gas such as SF6. The detector is then used to determine if gas is leaking. The unit can detect amounts of SF6 as small as 10-7 milliliters/sec. and 10-9 ml./sec. with an optional capillary inlet. ITI Qualitek, 267 Boston Road, N. Billerica, Mass. 01862-2310.
British Airways will equip more than 100 of its Boeing 747 and 777 aircraft with Rockwell Collins in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems. The contract consummates Collins' first major sale since it entered the IFE arena in December 1997 with the acquisition of Hughes-Avicom International Inc., since renamed Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems. The Total Entertainment System will be installed in seatbacks to let passengers select digitally stored audio and video entertainment, and is designed with a low-risk path for future upgrades, according to Collins.
ATTEMPTING TO IMPROVE COMPUTER INTERFACES for point-and-click applications, ITAC Systems of Garland, Tex., has developed a family of trackballs as an alternative to the venerable mouse. The Mouse-Trak is designed to reduce wrist and hand fatigue through use of the middle fingers to move the ball and the thumb and little finger to click the buttons. It is intended especially for operators such as designers and flight controllers who heavily use point-and-click applications.
SonicLaser Ultrasonic Proximity Switches use echo-pulse technology to avoid interference between units. The devices rely on a narrow beam angle of 2.5 deg. off center to avoid false echoes from surrounding objects. They can measure at ranges of 3.28-26.25 ft. and have an accuracy of 0.08-0.2 in., depending on the model selected. The sensors work over a range of -20-140F. Hitech Technologies Inc., P.O. Box 535, Newtown, Pa. 18940-0535.
The System 150 modular conduit system is designed to allow quick, easy assembly of full screened, environmentally sealed cable harnesses that meet Mil-Spec requirements. The system uses a range of interchangeable components, including RC 150 conduit, screen traps, heat-shrink boots and a wide variety of transitions and adaptors. The harnesses can be assembled without special tooling, which simplifies maintenance and repair in the field. New Chapel Electronics Ltd., London Road, Fairford, Gloucestershire GL7 4DS, England.
MATRA BAE DYNAMICS has scored its first win on the export market for Asraam with Australia's decision to procure the short-range missile to equip its F/A-18s. Asraam was selected over the Python 4 and AIM-9X. A contract, estimated to be worth up to 100 million pounds ($164 million), is expected to be negotiated shortly with first deliveries due in 1999.
LORAL SPACE&COMMUNICATIONS and Alcatel announced a partnership to build and operate Europe*Star, a system of three geosynchronous spacecraft designed to provide broadcast and telecommunications services in Europe, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and South Africa. Alcatel is to serve as prime contractor, providing the payloads for the spacecraft. Loral will build the bus and integrate the satellites.
Ascent 2.0 is a tool for simulating launch vehicle trajectories on IBM compatible computers in six axes. A user can model a vehicle, optimize the trajectory and cut and paste the resulting maps, charts and summary statements into other documents. Predefined vehicles can be selected. All significant forces can be modeled, including gravity, lift, drag and sideforce, engine thrust and loss terms. Results can be exported to Autometrics' Omni or Analytical Graphics' Satellite Tool Kit.
The MicroID family of radio frequency ID tags is designed for securing airline baggage. They could be used to automatically match bags against passengers, as recommended by the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. The tags can be read through items such as a suitcase or bag and can be scanned even if they become contaminated with dirt. Both of these factors are limitations on existing barcode technology for matching. The MCRF350 tag, due for release later this year, is expected to allow scanning up to 25 tags per second in the same RF field.
The U.S. Army is designing a single, new intelligence-gathering aircraft to replace its small fleets of twin-engine RC-12 Guardrails, dedicated to communications intercept, and four-engine RC-7 Airborne Reconnaissance Low aircraft. The latter has both an imaging and signals intelligence capability. After several years of debate within the Army, an acquisition strategy for the new aircraft, called the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS), is finally being mapped out. The service now plans to field the first ACS in 2008-09.
European air traffic management and airport equipment makers are counting on a mixture of advanced technologies, industry reconsolidation and stronger local presence to meet growing U.S. competition for Asia/Pacific business. Significantly:
Elasto is a two-dimensional structural analysis program with a fully integrated computer-aided design system, on-line help and multiple material options. It can measure stress in mechanical and electrical equipment and thermal stress in sensors, actuators, motors and cooling systems. It also can measure stress of parts and assemblies subject to electrical or mechanical loading, automotive components and coupled thermoelastic applications. Integrated Engineering Software, 46-1313 Border Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3H 0X4.
The EZ-View-TA is a portable thermocouple measurement and data acquisition system. The system can simply be attached to a standard printer port on a computer and requires no setting of addresses or switches. There also is no need to install accessory boards. The software is compatible with MS-DOS 3.0 and Windows 3.1 and 95 and requires VGA or better displays. The system features optional oscilloscope and record modes. It can monitor six simultaneous temperature channels and allows a user to mix common thermocouples.
American Trans Air (ATA), now recovering from a failed strategy in scheduled air services, is again planning to expand scheduled flying but with a difference. It is concentrating the expansion at Chicago's Midway Airport. ``Midway has been a strong operation for us since 1993,'' said John Tague, president and chief executive officer of Amtran Inc., ATA's parent company. ``We are building on that strength.''
Jill Abeshouse Stern has been appointed senior vice president/general counsel of Mobile Communications Holdings Inc. of Washington. She was a partner in the Technology Group of the Washington law firm of Shaw Pittman Potts and Trowbridge.
The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which develops highly classified imaging, radar and signals intelligence spacecraft, has asked the Cape Canaveral Air Station to provide it with launch site video of the January 1997 Delta 2 launch vehicle accident at the Cape. NRO officials would like to allow live, open distribution of test range video during launches of their satellites from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
American Airlines may face increasing scrutiny in coming months if federal investigators find a common thread in three major accidents and a related incident involving the carrier's aircraft in the last 27 months. Investigators for the NTSB will be taking a new look at whether there are shortcomings in American's training or flight operations programs that have been missed or gone uncorrected by previous post-accident reviews.
OKINAWA GOV. MASAHIDE OHTA has rejected a proposed off-shore helicopter port at Nago as a replacement for the U.S. Marines' Futema AB. Nago residents have long opposed the site, which is offshore of the Marines' Camp Schwab, but the national government has favored it as the adequate alternative. Futema was ordered closed in 1996 to ease tensions on Okinawa on basing issues. Ironically, Nago residents elected a new mayor who supports the off-shore plan. Japan's Agriculture and Fishery Ministry has the authority to overturn Ohta's decision.
