Nuts and Volts - December 2008

Integrated Ideas & Technologies, Inc., Expands to New Facility

Integrated Ideas & Technologies, Inc., has completed construction and began occupancy of a new 23,000 sq ft manufacturing facility. The new building is located in Post Falls, ID, just eight miles west of their previous facility in Coeur D’Alene.

“We were at maximum capacity in our previous facility and did not have the space for the new equipment required for advancement of both our SMT stencil division and our metal fabrication division,” says Michael Ray, President and owner of IIT, Inc. Ray expects the new facility to allow for a 50% increase in production capabilities over the next two years.

Onwards and Upwards —

Radiometrix lends hand to US students

Wireless communication specialist Radiometrix ( www.radiometrix.com) has supplied two custom radio transceivers to Idaho State University for its Research Involving Student Engineers (RISE) program. The London-based company supplied the pair of customized UHX1 multi-channel radio transceivers tuned to a special VHF frequency (147 MHz) through US distributor, Lemos International ( www.lemosint.com).

The program is sponsored by NASA and releases weather balloons with ceilings exceeding 25,000 meters. The balloons have payloads made up of a camera box, an automatic position reporting system for tracking purposes, and a flight computer. In addition, the balloons can carry various experiments from extremeophile bacteria research to simple egg drop mechanisms.

Weight is a key concern to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s 12 lb weight limit on these flights. “Finding a compact, light-weight radio solution was vital to the continued success of the project,” noted Professor Tim Frazier, the project’s faculty sponsor. Researchers have been looking at how to miniaturize the multi-channel tracking package, and the Radiometrix module offered a way of achieving this. “Lemos and Radiometrix have worked with us to choose a suitable transceiver and associated electronics for the project,” explained Ben Estes, program member. “The UHX-1 module from Radiometrix has enabled a transparent serial link between the control station and the flight computer in the balloon once it is airborne. This allows full communication between the balloon and the ground crew, allowing them to operate vents, cut-down mechanisms, parachute deployment, and actuate any other mechanisms needed,” Estes concluded.

Sidewinder

14V - 50V - Dual H-bridges - 150
Adjustable current limiting
Temperature limiting
Three R/C inputs - serial option
Many mixing options - Flipped Bot Input
Rugged extruded Aluminum case
4. 25" x 3. 23" x 1.1”