First global electronics distributor to offer integrated community functionality

Premier Farnell, the company behind the innovative element14 community and technical portal, will expand the capability of the site by launching a new electronics web distribution channel into the US market. This new channel combines Premier Farnell’s trusted high service proposition with its unique web 2.0 community, providing electronic design engineers with a new way of working that supports every stage of the design process, from conception through the creation of a prototype.

Design engineers will be able to purchase the electronic components they need at the element14 store, while accessing design tools, conducting research and collaborating with global peers on the community. This offers customers a compelling web experience where everything they need is only one click away. element14 began as a technical portal for design engineers and is quickly becoming a workspace where design engineers turn for everything they need throughout their early design cycle.

element14 already gives users access to a comprehensive suite of design tools, including DesignLink and CadSoft’s EAGLE software, over 15,000 technical documents and specialized discussion groups. The exciting combination with the store provides design engineers with all the information required to buy and integrate new products into their innovative designs, reducing their time to market and filling a void in the overall electronic distribution market.

The element14 store will only be available to US customers and is a complementary offering to Newark, Premier Farnell’s already market leading multi-channel distributor.

“The US market is set to enter into an exciting period of growth, led by the high tech space, and Premier Farnell is committed to providing electronic design engineers with the products and services they require to remain competitive ,” said Harriet Green, Chief Executive Officer of Premier Farnell. “element14 is the first all-inclusive online community built to provide design engineers with the information and tools they need to develop their ideas and thinking. Now our element14 store takes this model even further by providing customers with a new channel that takes into account the changing needs of the electronic design engineering community.”

» Contact Details for Premier Farnell

Appoints Nanosoft as value added distributor and recruits additional value added resellers in Russia and the CIS

Altium has appointed Nanosoft as its new value added distributor in a rapid expansion of its business in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Altium and Nanosoft are actively recruiting resellers, with 15 already technically and commercially trained and certified. Altium expects to double this number over the next 12 months to expand sales and support across the CIS.

This new sales channel will report to Altium country manager Evgeny Shikhov.

Altium is expanding its business in Russia and the CIS to tap into what it believes is a huge potential for its next generation electronics design solutions. According to the Information-Analytical Center, the Russian electronics industry has more than 2,500 enterprises and 360,000 employees.[1] Large investments see the sector continuing to expand.

Altium is also currently running a large amnesty campaign for users of pirated copies of its older P-CAD and Protel design software. The amnesty, launched in November and supported by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), supports the migration of users of this pirated software to the latest version of Altium Designer with a one-year amnesty for each legalized seat. Altium Designer is the successor to the well known and widely used P-CAD and Protel design solutions. In a single solution, using a single data model, it lets designers create products in all three design domains: PCB layout, programmable hardware and software.

The new sales channel is the infrastructure Altium will now use to grow new business, taking Altium Designer to new customers across Russia and the CIS. “The new channel structure, with Nanosoft as value added distributor responsible for channel, sales and marketing activities in Russia and the CIS, is the next major step to developing this exciting market,” said Martin Harris, Vice President EMEA at Altium.

“Most importantly, we can now get closer to our customers across the region to support them in modernizing their electronics design processes. The next generation of electronic products will require a higher level of connectivity with the web. And the electronics embedded in products continue to represent more and more of the overall value of those products. Being able to manage the electronics design processes effectively without stifling innovation is what will define “success” in electronics design in the future. Altium Designer delivers that required level of electronics design data management today.

“Electronics designers in Russia and the CIS can now compete on a level playing field with competitors anywhere in the world.

“In Nanosoft, Altium has a modern, innovative, highly professional value added distribution and marketing organization as a partner.”

“We are proud to represent and distribute one of the best in class solutions in the Russian and CIS market,” said General Director of Nanosoft Maxim Egorov. “Altium products, which cover the demands of the electronic industry, will perfectly fit our business. So we can provide our 100+ partner-channel with a truly balanced portfolio of CAD solutions.”

» Contact Details for Altium

Expanded sales presence ensures local availability of Projected Capacitive Technology (PCT™)-based glass touch sensor products

Zytronic, the developer and manufacturer of internationally award-winning PCT-based touch sensors, has further strengthened its presence in Italy by signing a new distribution agreement with Camax DS, Srl.

Under the terms of the agreement, Camax will provide local sales support with immediate effect, in its role as master distributor for Zytronic’s range of PCT- based glass touch sensor products, which includes ZYBRID®, ZYPOS®, ZYSWITCH® and ZYTOUCH®. This engagement complements the presence of Zytronic’s existing local distribution partner, ELCAM, which is the main distributor for the company’s PCT-based foil touch sensor products, ZYPROFILM® and ZYFILM®.

Headquartered just outside Milan, and founded in 1979, Camax chose to focus its business solely on the touchscreen market almost 20 years ago. This has enabled the company to provide its customers with a highly experienced and professional sales force that has unrivalled market knowledge, and access to a broad range of component parts to complete ready-to-use touch-enabled systems, including point-of-sale (PoS) units and public information applications. As well as holding stock, Camax also offers maintenance and integration services, plus in-house design on customised projects.

Zytronic’s products are based on the company’s proprietary Projective Capacitive Technology (PCT) touch sensors. PCT comprises a matrix of micro-fine capacitors – each just 10µm in diameter – laminated behind a protective front glass. As the active sensing array is embedded, there are no vulnerable front-face layers or components such as those found in Resistive or Infrared touch sensors which, when exposed to external elements such as moisture and dirt, may sometimes lead to inoperability of the touchscreen.

PCT touch sensors are not affected by scratches, may be sealed to very high levels, preventing water or dust ingress, and are practically immune to the kinds of wear and tear that may affect the performance of other touchscreen technologies in public environments, which makes them a proven solution in a wide range of indoor and outdoor interactive display applications including industrial, hospitality/leisure, medical, self-service, and digital signage.

Depending on configuration, touch can be sensed through glass up to 20mm thick, allowing use behind shop windows, for example, and smooth, pure glass-fronted styles may also be achieved as PCT touch sensors can be designed to eliminate the need for a frame or bezel.

“As a company dedicated to the Italian touchscreen market, we have witnessed the increasing demand in all sectors for high-performance touch-based interactive display solutions, designated for all different types of operating environments,” states Patrice Romano, Managing Director of Camax DS. “We are confident that particularly strong market interest in Zytronic’s PCT-based glass sensor product range will be generated from the medical and industrial sectors, as PCT can be operated with heavy duty and surgical gloves, is highly resistant to strong chemicals, dirt and grease, and is easy to wipe clean.” He adds, “The design flexibility and durability that Zytronic’s product range offers, combined with our technical capabilities and in-depth market knowledge, will ensure that we can continue to deliver the best possible touch solutions that fully support the needs of all our customers.”

Ian Crosby, Sales and Marketing Director at Zytronic, says, “With demand for our PCT products continuing to increase rapidly, it is important that we have strong supply channels in place locally to support our expanding worldwide customer base. With its outstanding experience in touch technologies, and a proven track record of developing new business and supporting existing touchscreen clients in Italy, Camax DS is an ideal partner for Zytronic in this important European market and we are delighted that they will join our growing global network of distribution partners.”

» Contact details for Zytronic Plc

Farnell focuses on alternative energy and high efficiency design with the addition of 1,000 new products

Farnell has selected the alternative energy sector as its latest focus market. The emphasis in this area of high importance has seen the leading multi-channel distributor add over 1,000 new products targeted at applications in alternative energy and high efficiency product design. Suppliers include leading industry names such as Microchip, ST Microelectronics and Tyco plus niche suppliers such as Advanced Linear Devices. The new additions take Farnell’s total number of products in this sector to over 5,000.

The latest issue of the company’s informative Technology First Journal looks in detail at alternative energy through a range of topical articles and features. Additionally, the element14 technology portal and e-community will feature a dedicated discussion and information group covering the topic at http://www.element-14.com/community/community/industries/alternativeenergy to provide support and information for design engineers working on new projects.

Alternative energy encompasses areas such as wind power generation, hydro power and solar energy as well as less publicised techniques such as harnessing vibration and thermal energy to produce electricity. High efficiency is crucially important in the electronic circuitry that supports alternative energy systems to ensure that a minimal amount of the power generated is wasted in the form of electrical losses. Farnell also recognises that when considering the wider electronics market, components that have low power consumption or support energy efficient design, are crucial in helping engineers in the development of end products that have low total cost of ownership and deliver environmental benefits.

Lynn Ma, Technical Marketing Manager-Europe, Farnell said: “The development of alternative energy sources and the efficiency of both industrial and consumer electronics equipment remains under the spotlight as globally we seek to address the unsustainable rate at which the world’s natural resources are being consumed. The electronics industry has a key role to play in the development of effective systems to support alternative energy generation and energy efficient design as a whole. Through our focus in this area we are seeking to simplify component selection and sourcing and speed the design process for our design engineering customer base.”

» Contact details for Farnell

Digi-Key Corporation Stocks Selection of Featured Diodes from Skyworks® Solutions, Inc.

Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry’s broadest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, today announced that PIN, Schottky, and Varactor diodes from Skyworks Solutions, Inc. are now in stock.

Skyworks’ offering of popular PIN, Schottky, and Varactor diodes are available for purchase on Digi-Key’s global websites and will be featured in future print and online catalogs.

Skyworks’ SMP1302 PIN diode is designed for high power, high volume switch and attenuator applications from 10MHz to beyond 6GHz. They are encased in a surface mountable plastic QFN package and have a low capacitance of 0.3 picofarad (pF). The SMP1345 series of PIN diodes, available in the tiny 0402 package, is designed for Low-Noise Block (LNB), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and switch applications from 10MHZ to 6GHz. The SMP1321 and SMP1340 series have very low capacitance and series resistance for fast switching, high isolation applications. The Pi configuration SMP1307-027LF is ideally suited for CATV and Infrastructure low-distortion attenuator applications.

Skyworks’ Schottky diodes are low-cost, surface mountable, plastic packaged, and are designed for RF and microwave mixers and detectors. These devices may be used at frequencies up to 10GHz and are available in SC-70, SC-79, SOD-323, SOT-23, and LGA packages. Wiring configurations include singles, common cathode, series pairs, unconnected pairs, and dual series pairs.

Skyworks’ Varactor diodes are designed for use in Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs) with a low tuning voltage operation. This family of Varactor diodes includes the SMV1234, SMV1247, SMV1249 and SMV1255 series of silicon hyper-abrupt junction diodes. The SMV1413 series is ideal for use in VCOs that call for tight capacitance tolerances.

» Contact Details for Digi-Key Corporation

DigiKey Receives 2009 Authorized Distributor Performance award from Honeywell

Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry’s broadest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, recently received the 2009 Authorized Distributor Performance award from Honeywell Sensing and Control in recognition of Digi-Key’s 2009 sales figures.

Honeywell Sensing and Control’s Director of Global Distribution Sean Conley presented the award to Digi-Key Jan. 19, 2010 during Honeywell’s America Sales Kick-off event held in Orlando, Florida. Chris Beeson, Digi-Key vice president of sales and Volume Business Division, and Jon Dent, Digi-Key product manager, accepted the award on Digi-Key’s behalf.

“We recognize that 2009 was a challenging year, yet Digi-Key’s sales in the Honeywell distribution channel out-performed in a down market,” said Conley. “Honeywell is pleased to recognize Digi-Key for their new customer acquisition activities. They maintained a strong inventory position so that the needs of our mutual customer base were met.”

In 2008, Digi-Key received a Bronze award for Largest Point of Sale Growth and a Silver award for Largest Organic Growth Percentage from Honeywell Sensing and Control.

Honeywell products are available for purchase by phone, fax or on Digi-Key’s global websites. Additionally, Honeywell products are featured in Digi-Key’s print and online catalogs.

“Digi-Key is proud to accept this award for authorized distributor performance from Honeywell Sensing and Control,” said Digi-Key President and COO Mark Larson. “It is a testament to Digi-Key’s commitment to provide the best service possible to our customers by supplying them with the products they need when they need them. Digi-Key’s relationship with each supplier partner is integral to our ability to provide the best service possible and broadest product offering for our customers. Our exceptional team members and commitment to service make it possible for Digi-Key to exhibit outstanding performance.”

» Contact Details for Digi-Key Corporation

Mixed-signal oscilloscope family offers logic debug capabilities

Now available from TTi Instrument Distribution are a number of new models in the Tektronix MSO2000 Series of mixed-signal oscilloscopes, offering advanced logic debug features at an entry-level price.

With up to 200 MHz bandwidth and 1 GS/s sample rate, the instruments incorporate up to 20 channels for analysing both analogue and digital signals, allowing users to quickly find and diagnose problems in complex designs. To capture long windows of signal activity while maintaining fine timing resolution, the MSO2000 Series offers a deep record length of one million points as standard on all channels.

With Wave Inspector(R) controls for rapid waveform navigation and automated serial and parallel bus analysis, the MSO2000 provides a feature-rich set of tools to speed and simplify the debugging of complex designs.

The 16 digital channels are tightly integrated into the oscilloscope’s user interface, simplifying operation and making it possible to solve mixed-signal issues easily.

One common challenge shared by both logic analysers and mixed-signal oscilloscopes is determining if data is a ‘one’ or a ‘zero’ when the display is zoomed in so far that the digital trace stays flat all the way across the display. The MSO2000 Series addresses this issue by using colour-coded digital traces, displaying ‘ones’ in green and ‘zeros’ in blue.

The multiple transition detection hardware shows a white edge on the display when the system detects multiple transitions. This acts as a visual reminder that increasing the sample rate on the next acquisition will reveal higher-frequency information than the previous settings could acquire.

The MSO2000 Series simplifies channel setup by allowing the user to group digital waveforms and enter waveform labels via a USB keyboard. Digital waveforms are simply placed next to each other to form a group, and all the channels contained in that group can then be positioned collectively. This greatly reduces the normal setup time associated with the positioning of channels individually.

An advanced probe design incorporates two eight-channel pods, which greatly simplifies the process of connecting to the device under test. When connecting to square pins, the P6316 probe can connect directly to 8 × 2 square pin headers spaced on 0.1-inch centres. When more attachment flexibility is required, flying lead sets and grabbers (also included as standard) can be used to clip onto surface mount devices or test points. The P6316 probe offers outstanding electrical characteristics, applying only 8 pF of capacitive loading with 101 kilohm input impedance.

TTI, Inc. exclusively launches Harwin’s new SMD Cable Clip range as part of EZ-Boardware PCB hardware promotion

TTI, Inc., the global distributor of passive, interconnect, relay & switch and discrete components, is exclusively launching Harwin’s new range of surface mount wire management EZ-Cable Clips as part of a promotion covering the Portsmouth-based manufacturer’s EZ BoardWare range of surface mount products that improve manufacturing flexibility, reduce manufacturing costs and improve in-field maintenance.

EZ-Cable Clips have been specifically designed to be automatically-placed and soldered directly to the PCB, saving time and money. They replace plastic devices which require installation by hand – a time consuming and very costly exercise. Harwin’s metal clips are physically much smaller than equivalent plastic wire management clips. They are placed directly onto solder pads, thus negating the need to drill retaining holes in the PCB, offering further space and cost savings. More, the new clips are ultra low profile and, unlike the old, bulky plastic clips, they do no protrude through the PCB increasing design flexibility.

TTI’s promotion also covers other EZ Boardware products including EZ-Shield Clips which can be surface mounted, allowing an RFI shielding to be simply pushed into place during final assembly. EZ-RFI Fingers facilitating electrical contact between PCB and metal cases, EZ-Jumper Links enable designers to eliminate through-hole vias and multi-layer construction, and EZ-Test Points provides technicians with easy-to-see test points and minimize the risk of PCB damage by incorrect test methods.

Comments John Sandy, European Director of Supplier Marketing, Connectors, TTI, Inc.: “Harwin has designed all the products in its EZ-Boardware range to address and solve a particular production challenge, removing secondary manufacturing operations, simplifying assembly and cutting costs.” Adds Paul Gillam, Harwin’s Product Manager: “Production issues must be solved at the design stage through the use of innovative products such as our EZ-Boardware range. TTI is known for its design-in expertise and thorough product knowledge, so we are confident that they will be able to help our customers get the best solution for their requirement. ”

» Contact Details for TTI Inc.

RS Launches Battery Recycling Service

RS Components is pleased to announce the launch of its battery recycling service for customers in accordance with Part 2 of The Batteries Directive, The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, which came into force on 1st Feb 2010.

As a producer of batteries, RS has registered with the recycling scheme operated by BatteryBack. Most portable and industrial batteries can be recycled at RS Trade Counters, alternatively BatteryBack has now established over 2000 battery collection points, a figure that is growing daily and aims to have 30,000 sites by the end of 2010 and over 60,000 by the end of 2012. RS customers can also arrange for BatteryBack to collect waste batteries free-of-charge from their premises, provided the weight of portable batteries exceeds 30kg.

Customers can find full details of the recycling options on RS’ website, rswww.com/batteryrecycling in a section dedicated to the Batteries Directive. Information about the regulations, frequently asked questions and links to other useful websites are also provided.

UK Battery Recycling Targets
In 2008, the UK only recycled 2.8% of all batteries put onto the market, with the vast majority of waste batteries being disposed of in landfill sites. Most batteries contain heavy metals, and are a significant cause for environmental concern. When disposed of incorrectly, these heavy metals may leak into the ground when the battery casing corrodes. This can contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. The new legislation has set a target for recycling of 25% by 2012, and 45% by 2016, which RS is committed to helping to achieve.

Already compliant with Part 1 of The Batteries Directive – The Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2008, RS is also fully compliant with Part 2, The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, which came into force on 1st Feb 2010.

Both parts of the Directive apply to all types of batteries and accumulators, regardless of their shape, volume, weight, material composition or use (industrial, automotive and portable), placed on the EU market on or after 26 September 2008.

Part 1 defines the requirements for placing batteries and accumulators on the market including battery labelling and design, while Part 2, covers the remaining provisions relating the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries and accumulators.

» Contact details for RS Components

Aerco sets up partnership with B3 Cable Solutions

Aerco has set up a partnership with B3 Cable Solutions, under the terms of which Aerco will sell the Manchester based company’s range of fibre optic and metallic cables.

With factories in the UK, Ireland and Spain, B3 is the third largest and fastest growing manufacturer of metallic cable in the world and delivers products to major companies throughout the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, Asia and the Middle East serving the rail, utilities, energy and telecommunications industries.

B3 employs over 700 people and supplies an extensive range of quality approved metallic and optical fibre cabling solutions that are used in: military and aerospace, metro and overland rail network, long haul, metropolitan and local telecommunication networks, low voltage power networks and industrial and building management control systems.

Andy Gale, Aerco’s cable business manager said of the appointment: “Having access to B3’s extensive product portfolio allows our existing customers to meet vendor reduction programmes and we are also looking forward to working with B3 to develop relationships with new customers who require quality cable solutions.”

» Contact Details for Aerco Limited