cPCI Relay Board Eases Process Control

Intended for control systems, factory automation, and external-device I/O, the CPCI-563 3U-outline Compact PCI (cPCI) relay board includes 16 on-board mechanical relays with single-pole, single-throw contact outputs configured as Form-A. Each of the silver-palladium contacts can carry up to 500 mA of current and are rated at 10W or 200 Vdc. They may be cycled in 1 ms and offer less than 100 milliohms of contact resistance. All connections are made through the front panel and a programmable LED lamp is available for use as a general-purpose indicator. The relay channels feature three operating modes running as either 16 independent relays, eight differential pairs, or performing a programmable break-before-make operation. Relay selection, delay configuration, and self-test is achieved via included, executable binary software that runs under Windows 95/98/2000. LabVIEW (National Instruments) virtual instrument controls are also included. For users developing their own code, option source code (Model CPCI-563WINS) written in C++, which includes DLL and device-driver libraries and ActiveX controls is available. The CPCI-563 costs $425 and the CPCI-563WINS is priced at $395. Delivery is from stock to two weeks ARO.