Docking station puts PCI acquisition on notebooks
A
Dataquest Solutions product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Sep 12, 2003
A novel range of PC-Card docking stations enables standard PCI data acquisition hardware to be used in the field with notebook PCs.
A vast range of PCI boards are available on the market for many types of applications, particularly for data acquisition and waveform generation.
The downside is that when fitted inside a standard desktop PC they suffer from one particular drawback - portability.
And although the notebook PC is a viable solution for mobile computing it lacks the interface for standard PCI hardware.
There is at hand however a solution, with the addition of a PC-Card docking station.
Dataquest Solutions offers a range of compact docking station enclosures, using the standard PC-Card (PCMCIA) connection on the notebook PC.
Versions are available for half and full-length PCI boards, with all enclosures featuring internal forced air cooling and a supply option of 100-240V AC and 12V DC.
Connection of a DC supply allows easy operation in the field, or within a vehicle, so opening possibilities to on site component testing, environmental monitoring at remote stations, engine performance work and portable high-speed arbitrary signal generation.
One model even features the option of an internal rechargeable battery (12V 7Ah), making for a neat solution, where the docking station sits underneath the Notebook PC and just a single cable connection is required.
The weight and size of the units depends on the model chosen, but as an example the half-length single-slot unit weighs in at just 0.8kg (excluding PCI board) and measures 220 x 180 x 45mm.
All systems come complete with a wide range of drivers for Windows 9x, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP and MacDos9.x.
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