Copy of nVent SCHROFF LAUNCHES POSITIVE RETRACTION CARD-LOK

nVent announced the release of the Positive Retraction Card-Lok, used in rugged environments when a printed circuit board (PCB) must be reliably removed from a chassis in the field.

The positive retraction mechanism allows the Card-Lok to disengage from the wall of the chassis by eliminating the stiction.  The Card-Lok is then able to retract, and the PCB can be removed from the Chassis, allowing access to vital electronics.

These standard COTS or modifiable versions are drop-in replacements of the nVent SCHROFF 260, 265, and 280 Calmark & Birtcher lines. In addition, these Positive Retraction Card-Loks provide better clamp force and thermal management than their standard Card-Lok series equivalents. 

Designed and manufactured in an AS9100 certified factory in San Diego, California, the Positive Retraction Card-Lok meets VITA (46, 48.2, 48.4, 48.5 and 48.8) and SOSA standards along with being DFARS, JOSCAR, and ITAR compliant.  Also meeting advance requirements for shock and vibration resistance.

The nVent SCHROFF’s Positive Retraction Card-Lok recently won the prestigious Best in Show Award by Embedded Computing Design at Electronica 2024 Exhibition and Conference. 

Contact our highly specialized engineering team at sales@odonnell.com for more information.

Unlock a New Market with Sharp’s ePoster Display Module

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/be8083_e75be2053d064f6ea4b0052545a9ac01/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Companies have a serious pain point when it comes to paper posters: They’re expensive to print and labor-intensive to install and replace — especially in industries that switch artwork frequently. Sharp’s new ePoster Digital Display Module completely changes the game. Be the first to bring it to your market.

ePoster By Sharp Enables Signage Products That Can:

• Cycle through multiple posters from a single display

• Eliminate printing and re-installation costs

• Mount like a picture frame—no cords or cables, fans or noise

• Operate with zero power in static mode

• Function with extended times between battery charges

• Feature modern, clean design

Why You’ll Love It:

• It’s a sleek, high-resolution display to embed in your finished product.

• A powerful new sales pitch to retailers, restaurants, hotels, museums, and more.

• A sustainable edge for clients demanding some level of eco-conscious performance.

• Backed by Sharp — reliable production, support, and innovation.

ePoster is in commercial production in North America right now. Reach out to O'Donnell Associates North and let’s get started on the next big thing for your business.

nVent Releases Next Generation nVent SCHROFF MicroTCA.4 Crate

● NEW MTCA.4 Crate achieves 128 Gbits bandwidth per slot with PCIe Gen 5 

● Enhanced Cooling: Improved rear card cage cooling 

● Future Proof: New Cooling Unit Manager design based on controller with long life cycle 

● Backward Compatible: Mix and match legacy and new chassis and cooling units

nVent Electric plc (NYSE:NVT) (“nVent”), a global leader in electrical connection and protection solutions, announced the launch of its first MTCA.4 Crate in accordance with Revision 3.0 of the MTCA.0 base standard. 

In September 2023 PICMG released Revision 3.0 of the MTCA.0 specification. This revision supports PCI Express Gen 4 and 5 as well as 100GBASE-KR4 to improve system performance by 4x. To accomplish these higher data rates, SMD and compression mount connectors have been evaluated by the NextGen MTCA working group, and the simulation results have been taken as a base to define the whole data transmission channel for MicroTCA. The transmission channel has been divided into logical parts to define the limits for boards and backplane to ensure all MTCA.0 Rev 3.0 MCH’s, AMC’s and Crates work together in a PCI Express Gen4/5 or 100 GbE environment. 

As these high-end switches consume more power compared to their predecessors, the power budget for the MicroTCA Carrier Hub, where the switch resides, has been upgraded from 80 W to 110 W. To prevent overheating, the cooling units’ power budget was also upgraded to 110 W. A software mechanism helps ensure the backward compatibility of old and new MCH’s, Power Modules and Cooling Units. 

In the Rear Transition Module (RTM), cooling the improved 110W power limit is achieved with powerful fans and superior cooling design.

The Cooling Unit firmware performs in accordance with revision 3.0 of the MicroTCA specification. When powering up it remains in the 80W power rating. If the Power Module supports 110W per slot the cooling unit will adjust accordingly. For Power Modules only supporting 80W or if the IPMI communication gets lost it will stay in the 80W power envelope. 

The Renesas H8S controller previously used on the nVent SCHROFF MTCA.4 Crates have now been set to end of life. For this reason, nVent has introduced a new Cooling unit Manager design based on the STM32 controller from STMicroelectronics which includes the additional features described above.

Providing the highest data bandwidth

To achieve the higher data bandwidth, the maximum trace length defined in MTCA.0 Rev. 3.0 needs to be matched. Therefore, the MCH slots moved from the outside to the middle of the card cage.

Upgraded Materials

The pcb material has been upgraded to a lower loss material with SMD connectors for superior performance. For optimized routing, the physical order of the AMC modules has been changed. In the past, the nVent SCHROFF MTCA.4 Crates used the physical order starting from 1 from left to right, now it’s changed into: 7-8-9-10-11-12-MCH1-MCH2-6-5-4-3-2-1.