Passives

At the end of March several small bundles of electronics will be ploughed into a field in Cheshire, UK. The sensors will measure soil temperature and moisture content, then transmit those measurements wirelessly to the surface. It is the kind of information farmers around the world need to conserve water while still growing enough crops to feed an expanding population. ...

Need to save stand-by power? How about a mains switch that turns itself completely off? Omron has released such a thing: a manual mains switch with a coil inside that will flip it to the ‘off’ position following the application of 5V for 50ms. Unlike a latching relay, the coil cannot set it to the ‘on’ position. There is also ...

Harwin has developed a 1.25mm spaced high-rel connector, claimed to save up to 35% of space compared with micro-D. Called the G125 series, and branded Gecko, they provide dual row cable-to-board and board-to-board interconnect Operation is from -65 to +150C and at up to 100g 6m/s z-axis vibration. “This high performance is made possible by Harwin’s four-finger copper alloy contact,” ...

C&K Components has expanded its line of switch products for smoke detectors in support of the new European EN-14604 standard. “According to the new regulation, all smoke detectors sold in the European Union must include the CE marking and comply with EN-14604 standards, which require all smoke detectors to be equipped with a test button,” said the firm. The most ...

CamRack-SX SOHO is a series of 19in racks for small-office-home-office use. Models are wall-mounted 7U high cabinets, with two mounting profiles and variable depth in 20mm increments. Finished in dark grey anthracite, colour corner options are white, red, blue, orange and black, as well as yellow, green, purple, lilac and grey on request. Features include fast fixings with 1/4-turn locks, ...

Ask Google where you left your car keys and you won’t get a useful answer. But ask the FindMyStuff search engine and it replies: “Your car keys are in the sofa.” That’s no joke – go over to the sensor-laden couch in Florian Schaub’s lab at Ulm University in Germany and you will find them wedged between the cushions. Schaub ...

Rohm has introduced a supercapacitor with 3.0V operation and 25mΩ resistance, claiming these to be industry-leading figures. The device is a 0.7F pouch-style 25x25x1.4mm electric double layer capacitor (EDLC), the first of the ‘VR’ series. “Through optimised material selection and proprietary processes, ROHM was able to achieve the industry’s highest voltage,” said the firm. “In addition, an internal resistance of ...

Ametherm has introduced a series of in-rush current limiting NTC thermistors designed to withstand steady-state currents from 6 to 50A, and 250 to 800J of input energy. Recognised by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), AS Series devices are intended for the protection of: pre-charge circuits in lithium-ion batteries, variable-frequency drives in sports equipment such as treadmills, computers and audio amplifiers, as well ...

Atmel is to license 6LoWPAN software, the protocol stack for wireless sensor networks, from of Finland. The licence includes the 6LoWPAN stack and router software which Atmel will use with its microcontrollers to create IPv6-based embedded wireless products. Sensinode’s NanoStack 2.0 will be used with Atmel’s ATmega256RFR2 wireless MCU (pictured), while the NanoRouter 3.0 will support Atmel’s SAM4E Cortex-M4 flash-based ...

Truro-based Arcol Resistors has introduced the ADS silicone-coated axial resistor family as a more competitively priced alternative to their established ACS range. Resistors are available from 1 to 10W and 1Ω to 47kΩ. “Key features of this versatile resistor range are: good heat dissipation, non-flammable silicone coating, RoHS compliance, and non-inductive versions available on request,” said the firm. Applications are ...