Huber Suhner's new QMA floating adapter satisfies the exacting requirements that test and measurement components are expected to meet during intensive testing of assemblies or systems in mass production. In addition to fast and reliable connections with superior electrical characteristics, such applications also demand extremely high stability with regard to the mating and unmating cycles.
The company's QMA floating adapter allows testing of assemblies or systems equipped with the new QMA connectors to be automated. The adapter fulfils this requirement by absorbing radial and axial misalignments and shifting them to the 'float' area of the connector which consists of a spring pack.
The Suhner QMA is a recently launched interface designed for applications such as the equipment of infrastructures in the mobile communications market. This is a subminiature connector type that can be used up to 6 GHz as an alternative to the SMA connector, which has resulted in a wide range of potential uses. To complement and support the QMA family, test components are now also available with the QMA interface. These include the QMA floating adapter and the associated phase matched adapter for calibration plus a QMA termination. This unlocks a number of possibilities in application, for example for easy testing of assemblies.
The QMA floating adapter emerged from the search for an optimal connection solution for automatic test systems. The component satisfies the high demands that are placed on test and measurement components during intensive, high-volume testing in mass production. The most essential of these is fast and dependable connection, maintaining excellent electrical characteristics and an extremely high stability with regard to the mating and unmating cycles. This is accomplished by shifting any radial and axial misalignments to the 'float' area of the adapter.
Benefits
On the one hand, the floating adapter reduces the time needed for connecting and disconnecting the device under test (DUT). This increases the cycle time during automatic testing. On the other, it diminishes wear of the interfaces of test components (adapters as well as cables) and of the DUT by offsetting parallel, axial and angular misalignment. Lower wear increases the useful life of the test components in the test system. This, in turn, diminishes the cost of replacing them as well as the number of system stops necessary for installing and recalibrating new components. Finally, several adapters can be used simultaneously and in parallel in multiport applications, since the QMA floating adapter is self-centring.
For further information, contact Dartcom, 012 665 2771.
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