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Archives
 November 1999 Issue
News & Opinion
Marketplace
Character Generator
Video Data Systems' videoGizmo character generator is designed for multiple dwelling units (MDUs) where building management wishes to send information to all tenants.
The system features a single-region display for editing, a crawl feature that can overlay pages, transition pages, colorful backgrounds, a scheduling system for all screens, a logo system to create independent graphics, Windows-based editing and communications software, and options for sound and weather enhancements.
EMI Gaskets
Advanced Performance Materials has introduced a tin-over-copper formulation to the Flectron metallized fabric used in its Foam-Tite electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding gaskets.
According to the company, the tin finishing layer's galvanic properties will reduce the new gaskets' potential for corrosiveness when in contact with the various metals used to build electronics enclosures.
The company also hopes that tin could prove to be less allergenic than other materials commonly used in fabric-over-foam EMI gaskets.
Leakage Detection Upgrade
Wavetek Wandel Goltermann has upgraded the "find and fix" mode in its CLI-1450 and CLI-1750 signal leakage meters. All new units include the upgrade, and owners of older devices can download it free at www.wwgsolutions.com.
The version 6.0 firmware is designed to make the instruments up to 10 times faster to use, bringing leak level variation response times up to 10 per second. The find and fix mode is intended primarily for hunting leaks on foot in drop-to-home or in-home applications and features a numeric readout and auto-scale graph.
The firmware upgrade also supports Spanish and French for either domestic or international use.
VOD Upgrade
The Vivid Technology VOD (video-on-demand) System, with new hardware and Release 3.0 of its software, now supports an expanded system architecture with several new features.
The system is designed to output 192 streams from a single 6-rack unit-high module that puts out 256-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) signals directly and is scalable to 20,000 streams.
The system also provides interfaces to a variety of third-party billing systems. The service can be programmed to periodically deliver the billing information, format it for a given third-party system, and transmit the information to the billing system.
The new software supports content propagation to multiple headends from the Vivid Library Server. The automated system can schedule and automatically
initiate content distribution and allows content management to "learn and adjust" so that more popular titles are as close to subscribers as possible.
Termination Test Set
Jensen Tools' PocketToner 2 cable termination device has one port for the cable lead and an audible sounder for tone verification. It also contains a light-emitting diode (LED) indicator for DC shorts, cable splitters and other self-grounding devices.
Technicians can test circuit integrity in new or installed cable runs with an audible tone that identifies the line carrying the signal. The female thread connection is designed for quick removal of male F-connectors and easy change-out of multiple adapters.
Fiber Breakout Kits
Berk-Tek has introduced indoor/outdoor buffer tube breakout kits designed for field termination of any loose-tube fiber cable with field-installable connectors.
According to the company, the kits require no additional hardware beyond that needed to terminate fibers in tight-buffered cable and need no epoxy. The kits feature a 900 µm break-out assembly that is color-coded to match the fiber color scheme. Outdoor kits have clear Teflon 900 µm color-coded tubes to aid in fiber identification, and the furcation unit is available for any standard-sized buffer tube.
The assembly comes in 6- and 12-fiber kits with tube lengths of 24 or 36 inches.
Hinged Raceway Covers
Panduit now has available hinged covers for its PAN-NET cable management systems. The hinged covers are designed to facilitate easier access to cables than fixed covers provide.
The covers open in either direction and can be ordered with optional horizontal or vertical cable management panels. The panels also can be retrofit to systems that already are installed in the field.
LC Terminators
Seiko Instruments has added LC Termination Solutions to its line of fiber-optic products. The small LC connectors are
designed to double the number of devices that can be installed in a single panel. The connectors are available in single- and multimode versions with various connectors (Simplex/Duplex), adapters and patchcords.
The connectors feature an insertion loss rate as low as <0.10 dB for single-mode and <0.20 dB for multimode fiber. Typical return loss is -55 dB for single-mode UPC and -65 dB for single-mode APC connector styles.
The connectors are compatible with SYSTIMAX and ExchangeMAX components and meet EIA/TIA 568A, FOCIS 10 and IEC 11801 specifications.
Internet Gateway
UMAX Technologies' UGate-3000 offers small- to medium-sized firms a secure firewall and Internet gateway for up to 253 simultaneous users on a cable modem or asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL) local area network (LAN).
UGate-3000's Network Address Translation (NAT) mechanism is intended to reduce an always-on broadband LAN's exposure to incursions by hackers.
It features four-port, 10/100BaseT Ethernet as well as a Dynamic DNS (domain name service). An embedded hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) server allows configuration for authorized access using any standard Web browser over the Internet or local workstation on the LAN.
The UGate-3000 also can be connected to a router to provide LAN access by a satellite office with no need to reconfigure the local network. It also can act as a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server.
A/D Converter
Analog Devices' AD9432 is designed as a monolithic sampling 12-bit, 105 megasample per second analog-to-digital converter (A/D). It has an on-chip reference and track-and-hold circuit that delivers an 80-dB spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) up to the Nyquist frequency and draws 850 mW.
The encoder input supports either differential or single-ended signals, and the digital output features a separate output power supply pin to allow for interfacing with 3.3 V logic. It operates from a single 5 V supply and uses a switched capacitor architecture. A self-contained calibration feedback loop sequentially optimizes capacitor values to within one part in 2,048.
Fiber Depolarizer
Alliance Fiber Optic Products has released its All Fiber Single-mode Depolarizer, a passive broadband 1,550 nm device designed to reduce the polarization of even narrowband light sources.
The device is intended for use in measurement systems where polarization needs to be eliminated. Linewidth sources less than 0.1 nm can be depolarized, and a 980 nm version also is available for Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) applications.
SONET Multiplexer
Fujitsu Network Communications' Flash150 ADX synchronous optical network (SONET) add/drop multiplexer is designed to combine traditional optical carrier (OC)-3 and OC-12 operation with bandwidth grooming and data transport capabilities. The combination is intended to help cost-effectively provide multiple services over a single fiber-optic network.
The system features a hybrid time division multiplexing/asynchronous transfer mode (TDM/ATM) architecture and any-port-to-any-port connectivity. It also integrates the functions of a small ATM edge switch, ATM service access mux, and such data interfaces as 10/100BaseT Ethernet in one unit to save on the space and costs associated with numerous pieces of equipment.
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