Rugged data recorder for aircraft and vehicle signals intelligence (SIGINT) applications offered by Pentek
UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J. – Pentek Inc. in Upper Saddle River, N.J., is introducing the RTX 2684 26 GHz RF Sentinel intelligent signal scanning small-form-factor data recorder for mobile and space-limited military signals intelligence (SIGINT) applications.
The RTX 2684 is for use in extreme operating environments, combines the Pentek Talon Recording System with a 26 GHz RF tuner and Sentinel intelligent signal scanning software, and comes in an extremely rugged, small-form-factor half-ATR chassis.
The system operates in temperatures from -40 to 50 degrees Celsius, and can handle most thermal environments, making them suitable for unmanned aircraft, aircraft pods, tight equipment bays, military vehicles, and most outdoor environments.
The recorder weighs 23 pounds and is optimized for small size, weight and power consumption (SWaP). It is available with to 61 terabytes of removable solid-state-drive data storage.
A Pentek model 78141A Jade transceiver module serves as the data acquisition engine of the Talon RTX 2684 data recorder. One of its dual 3.2-gigabit-per-second 12-bit A/D converters operates at a sample rate of 2.8 gigabits per second.
The model 78141 is coupled to the 500 MHz bandwidth analog IF output signal of a 26 GHz RF tuner front end, delivering dynamic range across its spectrum. A digital downconverter (DDC) in the model 78141 provides frequency zooming for recording signal bandwidths of 500, 250, or 125 MHz.
The RTX 2684 enables signals intelligence engineers to scan the RF spectrum from 1 GHz to 26 GHz for signals of interest and monitor or record bandwidths to 500 MHz wide.
A spectral scan facility enables the user to scan the spectrum, while threshold detection enables the system to lock automatically onto and record signal bands. Scan results display in a waterfall plot and also can be recorded so users can look back at some earlier spectral activity.
Once the system detects a signal of interest, the real-time recorder can capture and store terabytes of data to disk, so users can store data spanning many hours.
The Talon RTX SFF chassis seals the internal electronics from the outside environment by extracting heat through conduction to an air-cooled inner plenum.
A thermostat-controlled, removable fan pulls air into the front of the chassis, through the plenum and then out the back of the chassis. Only the fan is exposed to the outside environment, assuring all system electronics are protected in the sealed chassis. The inner plenum can be replaced to provide other cooling options, such as liquid or conduction cooling.
Pentek's QuickPac drive pack is removable from the recorder via a set of captive thumb screws on the front panel. sealed with environmental gasketing, QuickPac drive packs can be exchanged to support short down times and extended missions.
A companion offload system for the QuickPacs is available so users can redeploy it while transporting and reviewing recorded data at a ground facility. The QuickPac drive pack holds to 61 terabytes of solid-state data storage and supports RAID levels 0, 5 or 6.
For secure applications, a separate operating system drive can be removed to enable users to extract all non-volatile memory from the system in a few seconds.
For more information contact Pentek online at www.pentek.com.
