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The marine environment
poses three real problems to computers, heat, vibration and corrosion.
These obstacles quickly cause failure in laptops and home type units.
Ar Engineering's
computers are purpose built, designed from the ground-up for these harsh
conditions.
Every computer is built
to order, and receives extensive testing before shipment. Electronics that
fail generally fail in the first few hours of use. We do a long burn-in to
ensure reliability at sea.
On most models, we
control vibration on two levels, low frequencies for shock and higher ones
for isolation from engine vibration.
The hi-speed 2.5"
hardrives, used exclusively in out products, are inherently stable and
designed for tough use. In most products, we shock mount these drives with
an industrial mount in the 3.5" drive bay. The mount is designed and
tuned to isolate engine vibration frequencies. In order to tune the shock
mount effectively, accelerometers must be attached to the actual drive and
mount as the weight and moments of the assembly will produce unique
vibration harmonics. The hardrives have excellent shock and vibration
specs; the hardrive shock mount meets these specs:
Vibration
(Operating) meets :
- MIL-STD-810F 514.5C-1 standard
- 5~20Hz, 1G peak to peak
- 60~200Hz, 3G peak to peak
These drives and the
testing are expensive, but insure high reliability. Solid State
Hardrives (SSHD) are now available on all models up to 32GB.
Low frequency (shock)
isolation is built-into the 2.5" hardrives and enhanced by full
chassis suspension on sorbothane
mounts. Once again, the weight and shape of each computer is unique and
requires tuning by varying the size and hardness of the mount.
We also bond internal
connectors and components to eliminate any failures from loosening of
parts.
Corrosion is another
common source of failure. The damp, salt laden air can quickly cause
failures in unprotected electronics.
We harden the computers
in two areas, the circuit board and the internal components.
The board receives a
mil-spec conformal coating that seals it from the harsh environment. The
military needs this coating for reliability, so do you.
The internal components
are also protected by an oversized VCI. (vapor corrosion inhibitor) This
device emits vapors which deposit on all the computer parts and form a
protective coating.
Our fanless models
(Alpha and Reliant), by nature of their design, limit exposure to the
outside atmosphere and warm the inside, so as to eliminate moisture. This
further enhances their protection.
Heat is a major problem
in most climates.
All of our computers
feature aluminum cases to quickly transfer heat to the outside air.
Component selection is
another major factor. A 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 processor produces much less
heat than a 3.2GHz with no real loss of speed. We use the 3.0. Many
of our computers now use energy efficient, low heat Pentium M CPU's
All of our premium
memory (CL 2.5 or less) has heatsinks on the RAM modules.
We use copper heatsinks
on the processors for greater thermal transfer and efficiency than the
more commonly used aluminum
Other Features
We also offer the
connectivity needed for a marine computer.
All of our computers
have at least two serial (COM) ports and many have 4. These are needed for
connection to your GPS, depth gauge, anemometer and most other marine
electronics. We have multiple USB and FireWire ports, and a microphone
input needed to use NavTex from your SSB radio.
Many of our clients have
a need for multiple displays, allowing charting and radar to be run on a
separate screen from their instruments, fishfinder, or entertainment. The
Apex, Alpha, Reliant Duo, and Adventurer computers support two or more
displays independently.
Our computers come
standard with Microsoft XP Professional, not the less costly XP Home.
(Windows 2000 Pro is available if you wish)
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