Vicor PowerBlog

Output Voltage Trimming

The nominal output voltage of Vicor’s DC-DC converter can be trimmed up or down within a specified range. Most of our 1st Gen converters can be adjusted between -50% and +10% (except outputs between 10V and 15V, which are limited to a range of +/- 10%). All our 2nd Gen converters can be trimmed down to 10% or up to 110% of nominal output voltage. Fixed set output trimming can be achieved using a single resistor or by using a potentiometer when variable outputs are required. The use of an OpAmp or DAC gives...

MRI Scanning System

The system is designed specifically for in-office musculoskeletal imaging, bringing MRI to the patient, and thus reducing the need for hospital visits. The compact, modular design requires as little as 8.4m2 and the low field MRI magnet is optimized for orthopedic use and imaging of extremities. Patients remain outside the magnet at all times during the examinations, enabling constant patient-technologist contact. This MRI system uses Vicor’s Junior modules in the temperature control system, where it is vitally important to keep the MRI magnets at a constant temperature.

Vicor’s Flexible Route to RoHS Compliance

For many manufacturers product compliance to the European environmental RoHS hazardous material standard will be compulsory by 1 July 2006. To help ease our customers’ transition to RoHS compliance, Vicor will be offering our standard Brick products in both RoHS compliant and non-RoHS compliant options. Customers who manufacture using lead/tin solder processes can continue to use our existing non-RoHS compliant products which incorporate lead/tin connector pins. Customers transitioning to RoHS can now select RoHS-compatible pin styles. Evaluation samples of most RoHS compliant products can be ordered now and volume production will follow shortly. Most...

Get Your Ticket Here!

When using public transport such as trains, buses or trams, you could be buying your ticket from a machine powered by Vicor. At a public bus or railway station, ticket machines have to tolerate all weather conditions, ranging from the freezing cold temperatures of long winters in Finland or Norway, to very hot summers in Spain or Italy. Because Vicor modules operate from -55ºC to +100ºC, they are ideally suited to this particular application. Inside a bus or tram, a ticket machine has to be able to withstand shock and vibration; because all Vicor...

New Technical Library on CD

The CD enables easy access to product data and application notes as well as linking to the internet to provide an up-to-date product catalogue. It gives access to webcasts and seminars, video demos showing how to optimise power supply systems, and a 180-page applications manual explaining the best design approaches and techniques to solve common challenges such as thermal issues, input and output filtering, and EMI considerations.

Local and Remote Sensing

The sense leads of 2nd Generation Mini and Maxi modules must always be closed: either directly at the output pins (local sensing) or at the load (remote sensing). When remote sensing is used, all of the wiring impedances – both in the sense leads and power leads – may introduce instabilities into the feedback loop. This can result in oscillation, poor transient response, activation of the output over voltage protection (OVP) or, in extreme cases, possible damage to the module. Care must always be used in lead placement and/or printed circuit board layout to...

EMI Input Filters Compatible with Most DC-DC Converters

The QPI family of active EMI filters provides conducted common-mode (CM) and differential-mode (DM) attenuation from 150 kHz to 30 kHz. The proprietary active filtering circuit provides superior attenuation for typical power conversion frequencies and supports PICMG ® 3.0 ATCA requirements. The QPI-4 and QPI-6 meet the specifications for the telecom bus: range 36-76 V including 100 V, 100 ms surge capability. Rated at 7 and 14 A, the products support single or multiple DC-DC converters requiring up to 672 W of input power at 48 V input. The QPI-3 and QPI-5 operate over...