July 9 – 11, 2019, Booth 5656 Moscone Center, San Francisco

Pickering Electronics, the reed relay company which has pioneered miniaturization and high performance for over 50 years, will debut  a new 10W member of its successful 4mm^2TM product family at the upcoming Semicon West exhibition. Like other reed relays in the family, new Series 122 devices occupy a PCB footprint of only 4mm x 4mm, facilitating the highest packing density currently available. Series 122 relays measure 12.5mm in height and are rated with a switching current of 0.5A at 10W. 3V and 5V coils are available.

Fast operate and release times, typically 150 μs or less, make Series 122 relays ideal for high speed test systems such as A.T.E. switching matrices or multiplexers. The 1 Form A (SPST) Normally Open (NO) Energize-to-make devices feature highest-quality, instrumentation-grade sputtered-ruthenium switches and plastic packages with internal mu-metal magnetic screening to avoid the risk of magnetic interaction issues in densely-packed applications. Devices have an insulation resistance of greater than 10¹²Ω and are 100%-tested for dynamic contact resistance to guarantee performance.

Other members of the family include the Series 120 which has a switching rating of up to 1A at 20W and a height of 15.5mm and the Series 124 which has a lower 9.5mm profile and a slightly lower rating of 0.5A at 5W.

Pickering Electronics will be sharing Booth 5656 with its sister company, Pickering Interfaces which will showcase its latest high-density PXI and Ethernet LXI Switching & Simulation Solutions along with their Signal Routing Software.

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Series 117 reed relays offer high performance and reliability at a competitive price point 

Pickering Electronics, the reed relay company which has pioneered miniaturisation and high performance for over 50 years, has announced that its two-pole single-in-line (SIL) 117 series reed relay is being extensively used in large switching matrixes due to a combination of small size, performance and cost.

All models in the 117 series are rated at 100V and can a carry up to 0.5A signal current and switch 5W of signal power. Versions are available that support 3V coil drives for systems working at low supply voltages. The two pole version has a footprint of just 10.16mm x 3.81mm, while the single pole device occupies just 6.86mm x 3.81mm – just 38% and 26% respectively of the board area required for industry-standard SIL relays.

The 117 series reed relays are constructed using Pickering Electronics SoftCenter® technology with an integral magnetic screen, ensuring that the relays exhibit excellent reliability and avoid magnetic interaction issues when closely packed together. Devices are also priced very competitively, and it is this combination of attributes – size, performance and price – that suit them so well for use in high volumes in PXI and other switching matrix solutions.

Pickering Interfaces is a provider of such test and measurement solutions and uses 117 series reed relays extensively in many of its products, including the BRIC™ high-density, fully scalable, integrated PXI large matrix modules with built-in high-performance analogue bus. Available in 2, 4, or 8 slot 3U versions, rated at up to 150V, 1A and 20W, these units rely on Series 117 high-reliability instrument- grade reed relays to deliver the performance required by demanding applications in defense, automotive and semiconductor manufacturing industries. Comments Pickering Interfaces’ CEO, Keith Moore: “We have been able to maximise switches density of our products without compromising reliability or performance in large part because of the benefits offered by the Series 117 relay family.”

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CLACTON-ON-SEA, England – Pickering Electronics Ltd. in Clacton-on-Sea, England, is introducing the series 122 10-Watt reed relays for high speed test and measurement systems such as A.T.E. switching matrices or multiplexers.

Part of the Pickering 4mm2TM product family, the series 122 occupies a printed circuit board footprint of 4 by 4 millimeters. The relays measure 12.5 millimeters in height and are rated with a switching current of 0.5 amps at 10 Watts. 3- and 5-volt coils are available.

The relays offer fast operate and release times, typically 150 microseconds or less. The 1 Form A (SPST) normally open (NO) energize-to-make devices feature highest-quality, instrumentation-grade sputtered-ruthenium switches, and plastic packages with internal mu-metal magnetic screening to avoid the risk of magnetic interaction issues in densely packed applications.

Devices have an insulation resistance of greater than 1012? and are 100 percent tested for dynamic contact resistance to guarantee performance.

For ease of servicing and replacement, these reed relays maybe socketed using SMD or through-hole sockets. However, care must be taken to mitigate the risk of affecting contact resistance integrity.

For more information contact Pickering Electronics online at www.pickeringrelay.com.

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Now in its 50th year, The Pickering Group is undergoing an expansion at its UK and Czech Republic sites.

The group of companies which includes Pickering Electronics and Pickering Interfaces has already completed a refurbishment of its UK interfaces’ site, and work at the relay company is due for completion in Q1 2019.

In addition to redeveloping its global headquarters and manufacturing centre in the UK, Pickering is also investing in an additional 3000m2 facility in the Czech Republic. This Czech facility is already producing many of Pickering Interfaces’ vast array of switching and simulation products in the industry for PXI, LXI, and PCI applications, including value add assembly such as cable and connector solutions. In total, the investment in the UK and Czech is expected to reach £5 million.

Keith Moore, CEO, commented: “Despite predictions as far back as the 1970s that our relay business would have a limited lifetime, we have seen exactly the reverse. We are challenged by our customers – including our sister company Pickering Interfaces – to deliver ever-higher performance in miniature packages, and that means that demand for our reed relays has never been higher.

“Similarly,” he adds, “demand for our simulation, test and verification products is also increasing, thanks to the complexity of today’s automotive and semiconductor manufacturing systems and the need for automated test processes. Therefore, we needed to streamline our manufacturing operations and add more capacity. We expect this to be an ongoing process, especially in Czech Republic as we look to add new products and support activities.”

Pickering is now a global company with support locations in the USA, Germany and China with representation across Asia, the rest of Europe and the Americas.

Author
Bethan Grylls

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To celebrate our 50th Anniversary this year, Pickering Electronics have published a book about the first 50 years of manufacturing quality Reed Relays. The book features various milestones in Pickering Electronics’ history, along with stories, quotes and personal photographs from our founder, directors and employees.

Please click here to view the PDF version >>