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Pickering Electronics, the reed relay company which has pioneered miniaturization and high performance for over 50 years, has announced that it has developed a miniature high voltage relay for use in a new test rig, designed by globally-renowned chip maker, ON Semiconductor.

In switching systems for test and measurement applications, reed relays are often the best solution thanks to their small size, high isolation resistance, hermetically sealed contacts, fast operate time and long-life expectancy. When developing a new test rig, ON Semiconductor – a long-standing customer of Pickering – identified the need for a reed relay with a stand-off voltage of at least 400VDC, which was also small enough to meet its demanding high switching density requirements.

The internal clearance constraints required by the uprated specs would not fit within the package dimensions of other miniature relays in Pickering’s broad portfolio. However, in just seven weeks, Pickering was able to send first prototypes of a device housed in the mini-SIP package with a footprint of 12.5mm x 3.7mm and a height of 6.6mm able to deliver a minimum stand-off of 1500V.

Comments Keith Moore, Pickering’s CEO: “Because Pickering has all elements of relay design and manufacture in house we are able to respond quickly and effectively to custom requests such as this. In this instance, as so many previously, a special design leads to a new standard product, and so we now offer Series131 devices – industry’s smallest high voltage reed relays.”

Featuring a choice of 3, 5 or 12 volt coils, with optional internal diode, Series 131 reed relays are available in the 1 Form A (energize to make) SPST N.O. configuration, and can switch up to 0.7 amps, 10 watts. Devices are ideal for cable testers, mixed signal/ semiconductor testers, backplane testers, high voltage instrumentation, in-circuit test equipment and other HV applications.

Pickering Electronics also manufactures various other miniature high voltage SIL/SIP reed relays. Series 119 types deliver a stand-off voltage performance of up to 3kV on a footprint of 15.1 x 3.7mm (1 Form A) and a profile of 6.6mm, while Series 104s offer the same high voltage performance but with a higher switching power of up to 25W and a higher coil resistance of up to 3000Ω in a package measuring 24.1 x 6.3 x 8.2mm (1 Form A).

To learn more about this new reed relay, to download the datasheet or to request a quote please click here:

To request a free working evaluation sample of the Series 131 now please click here:

Want to know what other reed relays Pickering can offer? Try our new parametric tool to help you narrow down our offering to get you the right reed relay for your application.

About Pickering Electronics

Pickering Electronics was formed over 50 years ago to design and manufacture high quality reed relays, intended principally for use in Instrumentation and Test equipment. Today, Pickering’s Single-in-Line (SIL/SIP) range is by far the most developed in the relay industry with devices 25% the size of many competitors. These small SIL/SIP reed relays are sold in high volumes to large ATE and Semiconductor companies throughout the world.

Pickering Electronics is part of the privately-owned Pickering Group; made up of three electronics manufacturers, including Pickering Interfaces who design and manufacture modular signal switching and simulation products, and Pickering Connect who design and manufacture cables and connectors.

You can view the original article here: https://www.edacafe.co

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We are delighted to announce that Pickering Electronics has been selected as a finalist at the Electronics Industry Awards 2020 in the Manufacturer of the Year category.

The Electronics Industry Awards is a premier event that recognises outstanding people, products and business practices from across the electronics sector. The shortlist was created using a combination of online votes and an expert panel of judges.

Pickering Electronics would like to thank all those that voted for us and congratulate all other finalists, including our sister company; Pickering Interfaces, who are finalists in the test, measurement & inspection product of the year category. 

Pickering Electronics have been market leaders in the production of high quality, high performance Reed Relays for over 50 years and are proud to be recognised within the industry. The ceremony will take place on Thursday 24^th September 2020.

More information available here: electronicsindustryawards.co.uk/finalists

 

Reed relays have never been known for high power switching, in fact, high carry currents can seriously affect switch life and reliability due to the very use of reed switches. On the other hand, reed switches allow for very
efficient spatial distribution, taking up minuscule amounts of surface area on your board.

One of the first impressions we’ve had upon opening the samples that Pickering sent us is the extremely neat and tidy packing. Each set of relays came in its own tiny plastic box with clear windows, complete with a
protective layer of sponge and a satisfying “click” when opened and closed. Nothing important for the tests, but a nice touch nevertheless. Pickering has also thrown in a really nice set of literature, including an 80-page product catalog, along with a handy relay look-up chart and a brief relay theory overview booklet.

Pickering’s new 120 Series relays have an exceptionally small footprint, with 20 watts of switching power and 3, 5 or 12 Volt coils are the smallest relays of such performance on the market. With a 4mm by 4mm base, they
are almost four times smaller than Pickering’s own 110 series.

The 110 Series have already offered an extremely compact relay solution with great performance. We also loved the fact that it is breadboard friendly and operable directly from TTL logic. This means that it can be
directly incorporated in many existing prototypes without much preparation. The 110 Series and the 120 Series relays have very similar specifications in their datasheets, so we took them to the testing bench to see if any hidden differences lurk beneath.

On our test bench, we’ve assembled a bare bones circuit for bench marking these, mostly looking at their bounce times and operating voltages. We’re quite impressed by their overall performance, in both cases conforming to the listed specs completely. Nevertheless, we found that the 120 series relays have a much more noticeable bounce upon making contact. Where the 110 series relays’ bounce is so subtle that it can easily be mistaken for ringing, the 120 series relays offer an almost textbook example of relay bounce, with unmistakable voltage dips lasting a few hundred microseconds. Another curiosity in this series is the tendency to bounce a lot more on certain frequencies, namely around 314Hz, and in the 610-670Hz range, while at certain other frequencies, the bounce almost completely disappears. This trait is much less noticeable on the 110 Series. As with all reed relays, these are almost completely silent, with a high-pitched, quiet hum emanating at frequencies above 50Hz, raising in pitch with the frequency.

Pickering’s 120 Series is quite susceptible to external magnetic interference, starting with slowing down relay operation to completely jamming it open, but have no trouble being tightly packed and operating next to each other. Pickering’s 110 Series is a little less prone to external magnetism, but with a strong magnetic source closer than 5cm from the device, the relay tends to lock up.

We’ve certainly liked these relays, as they offer great speed and miniscule bounce times with an extremely
small footprint, for uses where this precision matters and the carry currents and voltages are low.
More at: www.pickeringrelay.com

You can view the original article here >>

Pickering Electronics, the reed relay company which has pioneered miniaturization and high performance for over 50 years, has launched industry’s smallest high voltage relay. Housed in the miniature SIL/SIP package, new Series 131 reed relays have a footprint of just 12.5mm x 3.7mm and a height of 6.6mm and deliver a minimum stand-off of 1500V.

Featuring a  choice of 3, 5 or 12 volt coils, with optional internal diode, Series 131 reed relays are available in the 1 Form A (energize to make) SPST N.O. configuration, and can  switch up to 0.7 amps, 10 watts. Devices are ideal for cable testers, mixed signal/semiconductor testers, backplane testers, high voltage instrumentation, in-circuit test equipment or other HV applications.

Commented Keith Moore, CEO, Pickering Electronics: “Pickering Series 131 miniature SIL reed relays utilise vacuumed, sputtered ruthenium reed switches which have a superb low level performance, making them an excellent choice where a wide range of signals are involved. The range is based on our long-established Series 113 style of plastic package that incorporates an internal mu-metal magnetic screen to enable high packing density, and Pickering’s SoftCenter® construction which protects the reed switch.”

About Pickering Electronics

Pickering Electronics was formed over 50 years ago to design and manufacture high quality reed relays, intended principally for use in Instrumentation and Test equipment. Today, Pickering’s Single-in-Line (SIL/SIP) range is by far the most developed in the relay industry with devices 25% the size of many competitors. These small SIL/SIP reed relays are sold in high volumes to large ATE and Semiconductor companies throughout the world.

Pickering Electronics is part of the privately-owned Pickering Group of companies; made up of three electronics manufacturers, including Pickering Interfaces who design and manufacture modular signal switching and simulation products, and Pickering Connect who design and manufacture cables and connectors.

You can view the original article here >>