Elma Bustronic Corp., an industry leading designer and
manufacturer of high performance backplanes, has announced a new 6U VPX Load
Board. The load board helps confirm the chassis meets the VITA 46/48 power
specifications for VPX and aids in locating hot spots within the enclosure.
The 6U VPX version is the latest in Bustronic’s family of
load boards. This includes a 3U VPX form factor style announced in 2009,
VME64x/VME, CompactPCI, and AMC (MicroTCA) formats. The load board helps test a
system’s cooling capabilities by first applying the load to the power supply
for verification and creating the necessary heat to confirm chassis cooling. By
locating hot spots in the chassis, a system designer can verify where to
optimally redirect the airflow to prevent overheating.
The 6U VPX load card features a microcontroller-based
stepped load control to 100 W maximum. Go/No-Go indicators are present for 3.3
V, 5 V, 12 V, 12 V_Aux, -12 V_Aux, and 3.3 V_Aux. The rotary switch selects the
voltage setting while pushing the ON switch will cycle between different power
levels shown on the LED display. The set load power levels are saved in EEPROM.
Other features include a power reset button (to minimum level) and a SYSRESET
signal on the two test point outputs.