Out in Front: December 21, 1995

Pentek tailors its new trio of VME boards for digital radios, which bring the RF/IF signal down to baseband and use A/D conversion followed by DSP-based algorithms to demodulate the signal (EDN, "Converters restructure communication architectures," Aug 3, 1995, pg 51). Pentek’s 6400 series of A/D converters features single-slot 6U boards, which differ from each other primarily in resolution and sampling rate. Each incorporates two matched A/D channels, input-signal conditioning, antialiasing lowpass filters, and clock-generation circuitry. The common clock results in superior phase matching between channels. The boards deliver digitized outputs to subsequent stages via TTL- and ECL-output-drive front-panel connectors rather than through the VMEbus to conserve bus bandwidth and eliminate the need for onboard FIFO buffering.

Model 6402 ($3995) samples up to 300k samples/sec per channel, with 16-bit resolution. Nominal signal span is ±1V into a 100-k ohm input. The 6410 ($11,995) provides 14-bit resolution at rates up to 10M samples/sec per channel; input impedance is 50V. The highest speed member of the family is the 6441 ($5495), which provides 12-bit data samples at up to 41M samples/sec/channel. -- by Bill Schweber

Pentek Inc, Norwood, NJ. (201) 767-7100, ext 708.