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.

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Pickering to demonstrate PXI and LXI test products, signal routing software, six-slot modular LXI/USB chassis and smallest reed relay at ITC

CHELMSFORD, MA—Pickering Switching Solutions, including Pickering Interfaces, a supplier of modular signal switching and simulation solutions for use in electronic test and verification, and Pickering Electronics, a pioneer in reed relay miniaturization and performance, will exhibit at the International Test Conference, the world’s premier event dedicated to testing of electronic devices, boards and systems from verification, test, diagnosis, failure analysis and process and design improvement, in Phoenix, AZ. On booth 208, the company will showcase its latest high-density PXI and Ethernet LXI Switching & Simulation Solutions along with Signal Routing Software, its 6U Modular Chassis and the world’s smallest reed relays. Products highlighted include:

Model 65-221 High-Density Modular LXI Ethernet Reed Relay Matrix
Originally designed to test Semiconductors at wafer and package levels, this Reed Relay Matrix solution combines our latest LXI Chassis with our new plug-in matrices. The range comprises four models covering matrices of up to 1,536×4 in increments of 128, 768×8 in increments of 64, 384×16 in increments of 32, and 192×32 in increments of 32. Users can specify as many or as few plug-ins (up to six) required and can field upgrade the chassis to extend the matrix when necessary. Another important feature is that over 1,500 relays can be closed simultaneously for specific conditions for parametric testing. These plug-ins also offer built-in scan list sequence stores with triggering capability, providing users with the ability to set a series of up to 200,000 pre-determined sequences on an LXI instrument, the sequences can be triggered by software or one of the sixteen DIO software configurable open collector triggers. They also feature multi-bus capability for parallel testing.

Model 40-559 BRIC Ultra-High-Density Large PXI Matrix Modules
This range of large PXI matrices are robust 1A/20W switching modules, with up to 4,096 crosspoints. Constructed with the Pickering Electronics’ Series 120 4mm x 4mm reed relays, this new generation of 1Amp PXI matrices delivers twice the density of any competing large matrix module. Available in 2, 4, or 8-slot PXI sizes, these PXI matrices enable a complete functional ATE system to be housed in a single 3U PXI chassis and allow the use of much lower cost 8 or 14 slot PXI chassis.

The range comes with Pickering’s Built-in Relay Self-Test (BIRST) and is also supported by their eBIRST Switching System Test Tools. These tools provide a quick and simple way of finding relay failures within the modules.

Model 40-297 PXI Precision Programmable Resistor Module
Designed as a simple solution for applications requiring accurate simulation of resistive sensors, this series includes 50 model configurations per platform, and is also available in PCI form/factor. Each version offers users the choice of channel count, range and setting resolution. Units feature resolution from 0.125Ω to 2Ω, channel counts from 3 to 18 and basic accuracy is 0.2% ± resolution.

All of Pickering’s PXI switching and simulation modules can be used in any PXI chassis and can be fitted to PXI hybrid slots in a PXIe chassis. They also can also be used in Pickering LXI Modular chassis for users preferring control via an Ethernet port, including Pickering’s USB/LXI Chassis:

6-slot USB/LXI Modular Chassis (60-106)
Pickering’s new six-slot modular LXI/USB chassis occupies only a small, lightweight 1U form factor, making it suitable for portable, bench-top, and space-restricted applications. The 60-106 chassis accepts from one to six Pickering PXI 3U modules; the user can choose from over 1000 modules including programmable resistors, matrices, multiplexers, general purpose relays, RF switches and fault insertion units. The systems are USB 3.0-compatible, and feature a fully compliant LXI interface with the option of a Wi-Fi dongle (sold separately). Therefore, remote control via USB or LXI Ethernet is possible

Switch Path Manager Signal Routing Software
This signal routing software simplifies signal routing through switching systems and speeds up the development of switching system software. Switch Path Manager supports Pickering’s PXI, LXI, PCI and GPIB switching modules and the interconnection between these products.

Pickering will also highlight its eBIRST Switching System Test Tools. Designed specifically for Pickering’s PXI, PCI or LXI products, these tools simplify switching system fault-finding by quickly testing the system and graphically identifying the faulty relay.

Comments Bob Stasonis, Director of Sales & Marketing at Pickering Interfaces: “We keep adding to our already-huge range of switching and sensor simulation products—over 1000+ in PXI alone. This means that test engineers do not need to compromise; we have a product that will precisely meet their requirements. And if we don’t, we will custom design a solution.” Pickering Interfaces stands behind all of its manufactured products with a standard three-year warranty and guaranteed long-term product support.

For more information, visit www.pickeringtest.com.

Smallest Reed Relay
Notably, Pickering Interfaces is the only switching test equipment manufacturer that also manufactures the key element in such products – reed relays via group company, Pickering Electronics. At ITC, the company will also showcase the world’s smallest through-hole reed relay, the Series 124 ultra-high density 4mm2 device, which has a 4 x 4mm footprint, and measures just 9.5mm high. Series 124 reed relays feature a sputtered ruthenium switch rated at 5 watts, 0.5 amps. These are the same reed switches as used in the long-established Pickering Series 111, 111P and 117 but are orientated vertically within the package, facilitating such high density. The relays boast very fast operate times, typically 80µs, making them ideal for high speed test systems, and due to the incredibly small size they are also suitable for very high-density applications such as A.T.E. and Semiconductor switching matrices or multiplexers.

Graham Dale, Technical Director at Pickering Electronics comments: “Over the years, Pickering Electronics has pioneered several reed relay developments which has resulted in our leadership position, including the use of mu metal screens that enable relays to be stacked closely together with interference problems, and the formerless coils which save space. The new Series 124 reed relays once again set the bar for miniaturization.”

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