RS Components will be exhibiting its own-brand LEDs and a selection of products from Osram Opto Semiconductors & Osram Lighting at this year’s euroLED, taking place between 3rd and 4th June at the Ricoh Arena, West Midlands. Visitors to the RS Stand, LED8, will be able to view and find out how its range of solid state lighting (SSL) solutions can reduce maintenance and re-lamping costs.

LED lamps are central to the solid-state revolution and when compared with conventional lighting sources offer higher levels of efficiency and reliability, longer life times, dramatic colour options and eco-friendly technology.

RS own-brand LEDs

The wide beam angle and low heat output of RS’ own-brand LED lamps make them suitable for many lighting applications in industrial locations, offices, hotels, hospitals and bars. RS’ LED lamps have been designed to ensure the correct running temperature is maintained, significantly lengthening the lamp’s life.

Lighting now represents a staggering 14% of the overall energy used in Europe. With the rapid progress in LED technology, the new lamps last up to 50,000 hours, 10 times longer than traditional dichroic lamps. The LED lamps are able to consume six times less power than traditional lights. Up to 98% of the energy used by regular lamps is wasted through heat loss, whereas energy lost as heat in LED lamps is much less in comparison, demonstrating the potential energy- and cost-savings that can be achieved through the installation of LEDs.

euroLED, now in its 6th year, is a highlight in the global SSL calendar. It provides global organisations with the opportunity to penetrate, expand and understand the European and global LED & SSL markets.

» Contact details for RS Components

Farnell launches exciting new range of Agilent Technologies digital-storage oscilloscopes

Farnell, the leading multi-channel distributor, has announced it will offer Agilent Technologies’ new DSO1000 series of digital-storage oscilloscopes with ex-stock availability for free next day delivery as soon as the six model family first launches.

The agreement means that Farnell customers will have immediate access to the new scopes that offer bandwidths of between 60MHz and 200MHz and deliver features only usually found on more expensive equipment. The DSO1000 series is available with two or four channels and is housed in an enclosure measuring just 127mm (5in.) deep and weighing less than 3.2kg (7lb).

Farnell has been a stockist for Agilent’s broad range of industry leading products for two years. The successful partnership has seen Agilent become one of Farnell’s leading test and measurement brands.

With the support of local language websites and sales locations throughout Europe, Farnell is able to provide its customers, wherever they are, with excellent sales and support to help them choose the most appropriate products for their applications.

The new Agilent oscilloscopes include features to allow more signal viewing and the ability to display 23 automatic measurements; up to 21 of them simultaneously. With up to 20kpts of memory per channel, the DS01000 series also allows engineers to use the full sample rate of the scope – up to 8 times longer than other scopes in its class.

Commenting on the launch, Andrew Fawcett, Farnell Product Manager for test equipment said: “This agreement will give our customers instant access to the brand new and exciting DS01000 product range. Agilent has been a fast growing and valued addition to our product portfolio since we launched just over two years ago. Their brand strength and product depth has allowed us to offer new and exciting product categories to meet the exact test and measurement needs of our customers.”

» Contact details for Farnell

Mouser Takes Kemet’s Top Sales Award

Mouser Electronics, Inc., known for its rapid introduction of the newest products, today announced it was named KEMET Corporation’s 2008 Sales Growth Award at the annual Electronic Distribution Show (EDS) held last week in Las Vegas. This was Mouser’s first induction into one of KEMET’s top spots due to the notable percentage of growth that Mouser achieved during the year.

Jim Bruorton, KEMET Vice President Global Distribution: Strategic, says, “We are pleased to present Mouser Electronics with KEMET’s Sales Growth Award for catalog distribution sales for our fiscal year 2009. For what has been a very difficult and unprecedented time in our industry, Mouser found a way to grow their KEMET sales and the KEMET Team appreciates their dedication and effort. Our customer penetration has increased; our newest products are getting to the design engineers quicker, and product availability through their website provides great service to customers looking for KEMET products. KEMET is delighted to have Mouser as a business partner.”

“Mouser is thrilled to accept the 2008 Sales Growth Award for Catalog Distribution from KEMET”, states Barry McConnell, Senior Vice President of Products. “To be recognized by Kemet, one of the world’s leading capacitor manufacturers is truly an honor. Mouser’s dedication to launching the newest products faster than any distributor, and Kemet’s commitment to introducing new technologies is what has made our partnership a success.”

Mouser has been an authorized distributor for KEMET since 2000. KEMET is a world leader in the manufacture of the solid tantalum capacitors, multilayer ceramic capacitors, and a leader in the development of the solid aluminum capacitor. Mouser’s stock contains an impressive array of passive components including ceramic disc capacitors, multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), and tantalum capacitors, as well as specialty ceramic capacitors, inductors, and EMI/RFI suppressors and ferrites.

» Contact details for Mouser Electronics, Inc.

Efficient POL converters from Nu Horizons can drive 1000µF capacitive loads

The OKY-T/3-W5 and -T/5-W5 series from Murata Power Solutions are now available from Nu Horizons. These DOSA compatible non-isolated point of load (POL) converters offer efficiency up to 94.5% and are able to drive loads with high capacitance (up to 1000µF), making this series suitable for powering applications with tight output load regulation requirements such as the latest generation of FPGAs and DSPs. Application areas include powering CPUs, datacom/telecom systems, distributed bus architectures, programmable logic and mixed voltage systems.

The OKY-T/3-W5 and -T/5-W5 series feature wide input voltage range of 2.4 to 5.5VDC with a choice of 3A (T/3 series) or 5A (T/5 series) output currents. Output voltage is user programmable between 0.75 and 3.63V. The modules have exceptional thermal derating performance and provide under-voltage lockout, output short-circuit protection, plus over-current and over-temperature protection. Compact overall dimensions of 20.8 x 11.9 x 6.2mm allows the OKY-T/3 and -T/5 series to be used in space constrained applications.

Operating temperature range is -40°C to +85°C. 3, 5, 10 and 16 A output, 12Vin versions are also available as part of the Okami range from Murata Power Solutions.

» Contact details for Nu Horizons Electronics Limited

Murata Power Solutions expands Okami products which include Okami OKL-T/3-W12 series of adjustable output 3A LGA-SMT PoLs and new offerings in the OKY series

Mouser Electronics, Inc., known for its rapid introduction of the newest products, today announced it has expanded its Murata Power Solutions Okami products to include the brand new OKL Series, as well as an expansion of the OKY series. Murata Power Solutions products include the world’s broadest range of medium- to high-power DC/DC converters.

Mouser’s current stock of Okami parts from Murata includes the OKY and OKX Series and now includes the new OKL Series. The OKL-T/3-W12 Series are miniature non-isolated Point-of-Load (POL) DC/DC power converters for embedded applications. The tiny form factor is configured on a Land Grid Array (LGA) assembly measuring only 0.488 x 0.488 x 0.22 inches (12.4 x 12.4 x 5.6mm). Features include a wide input range of 4.5 to 14Vdc, a maximum output current of 3Amps, a programmable output voltage from 0.591-5.5Vdc, and drives 1000µF ceramic capacitive loads.

The Okami OKL Series boasts outstanding thermal derating performance, high power conversion efficiency of 93%, and over-temperature and over-current protection. Barry McConnell, Mouser Senior Vice President of Products, says, “The new Okami OKL Series of DC/DC converters are ideal for powering CPUs, datacom/telecom systems, distributed bus architectures (DBA), programmable logic and mixed voltage systems.”

Mouser’s expansion of the OKY series includes the OKY-T/10-D12 and OKY-T/16-D12 series of adjustable DOSA-SMT 10- and 16-Amp DC/DC Converters.

» Contact details for Mouser Electronics, Inc.

Anglia strengthens passive portfolio with AVX

Anglia has significantly strengthened its passive component portfolio with the signing of a franchise agreement with AVX, one of the world’s leading manufacturers, covering the UK and Ireland for its full product portfolio.

Commenting, Katie Pooley, Business Development Manager, Anglia said, “AVX not only expands the already very broad range of capacitors that we offer, but also gives us access to exciting new ranges of components. These include a very extensive portfolio of High Reliability capacitors and the innovative Transguard® circuit protection, EMI filters, frequency control and connector products.”

Tak Koutsoumanis, AVX Distribution Manager, Northern Region added, “We believe that Anglia has the ability to open a new base of customers beyond those that we are reaching at the moment. Their service model and design-in capability is extremely impressive, and we believe that they can identify new opportunities for our innovative technologies.”

Under the agreement, Anglia will have access to the complete portfolio of AVX component products, and will support them to its’ UK and Ireland customer base. This spans ceramic and tantalum capacitors, thick and thin film capacitors, timing devices and integrated passive components as well as EMI filters, circuit protection and connectors. AVX offers solutions to address applications from demanding military and medical systems through telecommunications to general consumer and industrial electronics.

» Contact details for Anglia Components Limited

Knowles Acoustics Stock Available from Mouser

Mouser Electronics, Inc. announced today it has signed a global distribution agreement with Knowles Acoustics, a leading designer and manufacturer of advanced acoustic components.

Stock includes the Knowles Acoustics’ SiSonicTM MEMS Microphone and Subminiature Performance Microphones which are ideal for products that require premium audio and very small form factor solutions. Also available are the Knowles Subminiature Speakers featuring a balanced armature technology for a high efficiency, stable, and reliable performance in audio and communication products such as premium in-ear designs, as well as component and subassembly solutions.

Barry McConnell, Senior Vice President of Products, says, “The Knowles Acoustics’ name is synonymous with quality audio components and we welcome its addition to Mouser’s linecard.”

“Knowles Acoustics is pleased to add Mouser Electronics to our Internet/Catalog distribution lineup,” said Tom Budde, Knowles Acoustics’ Americas Sales Manager. “Mouser’s focus and proven success in servicing design engineers, at customers worldwide, will help Knowles Acoustics meet its goal of making selection and use of our products easier for engineers.”

Known for its broad-based product line, unsurpassed customer service, and streamlined warehouse operations, Mouser continuously offers customers the most innovative products and latest technologies for their new design projects.

» Contact details for Mouser Electronics, Inc.

Tektronix has launched a lower-cost version of the highly successful MSO series of mixed-signal oscilloscopes combining two or four analogue channels with 16 digital channels

Tektronix has launched a lower-cost version of the highly successful MSO series of mixed-signal oscilloscopes combining two or four analogue channels with 16 digital channels.

The MSO2000 Series are digital phosphor oscilloscopes with bandwidths of 100 MHz or 200 MHz and two or four channels, and are significantly cheaper than the other MSO instruments in the Tektronix range.

Despite their low cost, instruments in the MSO2000 Series incorporate 1M points of usable record length on all channels, serial trigger and decode analysis options, and a variable low-pass filter that also allows the user to see signal details to the oscilloscope’s full bandwidth.

The WaveInspector navigation and search facility enables details to be located and zoomed using intuitive smart controls. The display uses a widescreen colour TFT which allows more information to be seen than a standard 4:3 display.

Digitally oriented features include bus display, bus decoding and events table. Serial triggering is provided for popular serial interfaces including I2C, SPI, RS-232/422/485/UART, CAN and LIN. Triggering can be done on packet content such as start of packet, specific addresses, specific data content or other unique identifiers.

TTi, as a Platinum distributor for Tektronix, holds all of the MSO2000 models in stock along with all options and accessories.

» Contact Details for TTI Inc.

Arrow Electronics EMEASA expands distribution agreement to include NEC Electronics Europe’s industrial automation components

Arrow Electronics EMEASA is expanding its long-standing relationship with NEC Electronics Europe, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, to offer new NEC Electronics products to industrial automation customers. Effective from April, 1st 2009, and as part of a dedicated NEC Electronics campaign, Arrow Electronics is authorized to sell and market selected products in this market segment in Europe. As one of the largest distributors globally with long-time experience in industrial applications Arrow is able to advise NEC Electronics customers comprehensively on the implementation of the new NEC Electronics products. The agreement includes the following NEC Electronics product segments:

• ERTEC (Enhanced Real-Time Ethernet Controller) addressing real-time Ethernet applications such as Profinet – including isochronous real time performance (IRT)

• V850 32-bit processors with integrated Ethernet interfaces for Profinet RT applications

• IO-Link single chip slave controller based on the 16-bit 78K0R CPU for intelligent sensor applications

“The addition of NEC Electronics Europe’s industrial automation components to our portfolio is a logical step to accelerate our existing and successful cooperation with NEC Electronics Europe,” says Jan Salsgiver, Executive Vice President Arrow EMEASA and Corporate Vice President Supplier Marketing. “We are committed to offering our customers best-in-class industrial automation solutions, and we believe that NEC Electronics’ new products will perfectly complement our offering in this market segment.”

“NEC Electronics Europe is focused on being the leader in semiconductor and colour LCD solutions for industrial automation applications. We already have a leadership position in Profinet applications with the ERTEC family and our recent release of a single chip IO-Link solution will only further strengthen our position in this market. We realise that distributors that display expertise in industrial automation applications are a key part of our strategy and we plan to continue to work together to bring these solutions to our customers,” comments Haroon Rashid, General Manager, NEC Electronics.

» Contact details for Arrow Electronics

Digi-Key Corporation and Cymbet Corporation Announce Global Distribution Agreement

Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, and Cymbet Corporation announced today that the companies have entered into a distribution agreement for the worldwide distribution of Cymbet’s EnerChip™ family of solid-state, rechargeable thin-film batteries and energy harvesting power storage modules.

As Cymbet’s first global distributor, Digi-Key is stocking three new products based on Cymbet’s innovative EnerChip solid-state, thin-film batteries:

* CBC-EVAL-05 — The EnerChip CC Evaluation Kit contains everything needed to test EnerChip 12uAh and 50uAh thin-film batteries, EnerChip CC CBC3112 and CBC3150 batteries with integrated battery management, as well as test multiple batteries in parallel.
* CBC-EVAL-08 — The EnerChip EH Solar Energy Harvesting Evaluation Kit is used to create zero-power designs for sensors, controllers, embedded systems, medical applications, environmental control systems, and any “untethered” system.
* EnerChip EH CBC5300 — This module is a drop-in power solution for solar energy harvesting applications. A self-contained power module in a 24-pin DIP configuration, the CBC5300 is designed to accept a wide range of energy transducer inputs, store the harvested power, and deliver managed power to the target system. The purpose of this module is to enable system designers to quickly develop energy harvesting applications.

These products are in stock and available for immediate shipment on Digi-Key’s global websites. They will also be featured in future print and online catalogs.

Packaged as a surface mount technology (SMT) component, the EnerChip provides energy storage in a form factor and with a convenience not previously attainable using conventional solutions such as lithium coin cells and super capacitors. Cymbet’s EnerChip is well suited for applications where battery backup power is needed to maintain the settings of microcontroller memories, real-time clocks, and SRAM during power loss or power failures. An EnerChip can provide backup power ranging from a few hours to several weeks, depending on the standby current requirements of the system.

When coupled with energy harvesting techniques, EnerChips can provide the energy storage to build self-contained, long-lived powered systems that have minimal negative environmental impact.

Jeff Shafer, Digi-Key vice president, interconnect, passive, and electromechanical products, said, “Digi-Key is very excited to be the first to partner with this cutting-edge manufacturer. We are certain that Cymbet’s products will be of significant interest to design engineers seeking innovative power storage solutions.”

“We are thrilled that our customers can now purchase EnerChip products from Digi-Key,” said Blair Wilson, Cymbet vice president of sales. “Digi-Key is known throughout the world for its excellent performance, and we know our customers will be well served.”

» Contact Details for Digi-Key Corporation