Sarsen Technology Blog

Selwyn Henriques and Bill Fox of Tech Source are visiting Sarsen Technology

2012-01-25T02:45:00.000-08:00

Selwyn Henriques and Bill Fox of Tech Source are visiting Sarsen Technology next week. The Tech Source Condor series of embedded products for Mil/Aero applications consists of high performance COTS XMC or VPX form factor graphics and video solutions. The Condor series is based on the AMD Radeon family. Air or rugged conduction cooled variants offer Open GL/3D, H.264, video windowing plus GPGPU capabilities. Linux, Windows and RTOS drivers are supported. As a graphics/imaging specialist, Tech Source can provide customized solutions for especially demanding applications for Avionics, Vetronics, Naval Shipboard, Training/Simulation and related applications.

Follow this link for more details on the Tech Source XMC & VPX graphics solutions: Tech Source.

Freescale P2020 QorIQ 3U VPX-REDI Single Board Computer

2012-01-23T04:24:00.000-08:00

The Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) XPedite5570 is a high-performance 3U VPX-REDI single board computer based on the Freescale P2020 QorIQ processor. With dual PowerPC e500 cores running at up to 1.2 GHz, the P2020 delivers enhanced performance and efficiency for demanding embedded computing applications such as airborne radar, battlefield sensor and electronic warfare.

Read more about the Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) XPedite5570: XPedite5570.

Automated Trader: BittWare delivers FPGA Boards for High Frequency Trading

2012-01-23T01:54:00.000-08:00

Bittware's high performance Altera FPGA solutions for high frequency financial trading are featured in Automated Trader. BittWare, a provider of fully-validated, deployable Altera-based off-the-shelf FPGA and signal processing boards, has announced the First Customer Shipment (FCS) of the S5-PCIe to a technology leader in the finance and trading industry. The S5-PCIe is the first of a family of PCI Express slot-cards that BittWare is offering to the financial acceleration/HFT (High Frequency Trading) market. Providing CPU offload, high performance transceivers, and optional TOE (TCP/IP Offload Engine), the S5-PCIe is a PCIe-compliant deployable slot-card based on FPGA - Altera's Stratix® V.

Link to the Automated Trader web site: Automated Trader.

Sarsen Technology Kit Sponsors for Marlborough Youth FC U10s

2012-01-23T01:05:00.000-08:00

Sarsen Technology is delighted to be the kit sponsors for the Marlborough Youth FC Under 10s football club.

Link to the Marlborough Youth FC web site: Marlborough Youth FC.

Four input H.264 compatible video capture XMC card

2012-01-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Selwyn Henriques and Bill Fox of Tech Source will be visiting Sarsen Technology at the end of January. One of the technologies they will be promoting is the Tech Source Condor VC 100x XMC video capture and compression card. The VC 100x has been designed for use in various applications such as surveillance, image detection, video recording, unmanned vehicles (UAV) and other camera based video recording/analysis applications. The VC100x is an H.264 compatible video capture XMC format card with up to 4 video inputs and typical markets for the Condor VC 100x are military, avionics, industrial and UAVs.

Please call us on 01672 511166 or contact us via our web site if you would like to meet with Selwyn & Bill. Sarsen Technology

High Density x16 PCIe 2.0 Graphics Backplane

2012-01-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

New from Trenton Technology is the BPG8032 high density x16 PCI Express 2.0 graphics backplane. It is ideal for video display wall controllers and GPU computing applications and the BPG8032 supports up to 17 high-end video and graphics processing cards with high-speed & low-latency x16 PCIe 2.0 links. It is designed to enable complete video display wall and data solutions using Matrox™ Mura MPX Series cards & Trenton high-performance system host boards.

Please visit our web site for more details: Trenton Technology BPG8032

Laura Jeffs Promoted to Product Manager Role

2012-01-19T06:24:00.001-08:00

Laura Jeffs has been promoted to Product Manager with responsibility for the VersaLogic product line in the UK, and will be focussed on promoting their best-in-class range of rugged, small form factor Single Board Computers to instrumentation, transportation and aerospace sectors in the UK and Ireland. Nigel Norman, Sarsen Technology MD “Laura is a great asset to the Sarsen team and she fully deserves the promotion. Laura has the creativity and energy to build on VersaLogic’s success in the UK and I look forward to working with her in her new role”. You can follow Laura on Twitter at @Laura_Sarsen.

Link to the VersaLogic product line:VersaLogic

XPedite7470 Sandy Bridge Intel i7 VPX Board

2012-01-18T02:21:00.000-08:00

The Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) Intel i7 VPX solutions include the XPedite7470 3U VPX-REDI single board computer based on the Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7 CPC and Cougar Point QM67 chip set. This board is very similar to the XPedite7370 and is similarly priced but obviously provides the power of the Sandy Bridge i7 processor. Drivers for VxWorks, QNX Neutrino, Green Hills Integrity, Linux and Windows are available. Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) XPedite7470

High Reliability Processing - General Standards

2011-12-19T03:41:00.000-08:00

High reliability processing is now available at General Standards Corporation. It is recommended for product applications that experience environmental temperature fluctuations and/or power cycling. It is also recommended for applications where repairs are difficult to make and/or failure is unacceptable. Now, at GSC, high reliability is not just using extended temperature components: High Reliability Processing - General Standards

X-ES Rugged System Solution for COM Express

2011-12-19T02:59:00.000-08:00

Are you looking at COM Express for your next project? Take a look at the rugged X-ES XPand6000 Convection-Cooled Small Form Factor ATR Chassis. The XPand6000 is also suitable for rugged, compact XMC format solutions: X-ES COM Express XPand6000 System

December 2011 News Bytes from Sarsen Technology

2011-12-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

The December 2011 edition of the Sarsen Technology News Bytes is now available online. This month we are featuring new embedded technology solutions based on Altera Stratix V FPGAs, rugged convection cooled systems for COM Express & XMC modules and high performance AMD Radeon 6760 GPU Graphics XMC hardware. December 2011 News Bytes The image is a reproduction of an original watercolour by Pat Thuysbaert, showing a Christmas scene in Avebury, Wiltshire. Website: www.patsartbox.co.uk

2011 Record Sales for BittWare Inc.

2011-12-16T03:07:00.000-08:00

2011 brings record sales for BittWare Inc., the leader in Altera-based FPGA COTS boards. Sarsen Technology was a major contributor to the 2011 sales growth: 2011 Record Sales for BittWare

FPGA Solutions for Automated Financial Trading Market

2011-12-16T00:38:00.000-08:00

Busy with lots of new opportunities for the BittWare S5-PCIe Altera Stratix V FPGA board in the automated financial trading market http://bit.ly/vL8e2v

High Performance Computing Systems for UAVs

2011-11-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

In recent years Sarsen Technology has successfully delivered a number of 19" rackmount high-performance computer systems for the flight control and mission analysis of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) projects. At the heart of these systems are Trenton Technology PICMG 1.3 embedded System Host Boards (SHBs) and PICMG 1.3 backplanes designed for the latest Intel multi-core processors.

Altera Stratix V FPGA Board for Automated Financial Trading Applications

2011-11-28T05:51:00.000-08:00

The BittWare S5-PCIe is the industry's first Altera Stratix® V FPGA-based COTS board and is optimised for high performance computing military, telecommunications test equipment and financial trading applications. The Altera Stratix V FPGA has 3.8 billion transistors and is optimised for demanding computing applications. New project opportunities in the automated financial trading market is keeping us very busy this month.

Marlborough News Online

2011-11-28T05:41:00.000-08:00

The Sarsen Technology office is pictured right in the middle of the Marlborough News Online web site banner.

BittWare International Sales Conference 2011

2011-10-17T04:03:00.001-07:00

Nigel, Robbie & Tim travelled to Concord, NH at the end of September for BittWare's 2011 International Distributor Sales & Traing Conference. We learnt about lots of new exciting technology including the Altera Stratix V COTS hardware & the new Anemone FPGA Co-Processor. We also travelled one evening to the Castle in the Clouds in the White Mountains in New Hampshire where the photo above was taken.

Sarsen Technology at DSEi 2011

2011-09-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who visited us at DSEi2011. It was a very successful show for us and thanks for making it a fun event. We will announce the winner of the iPad3 as soon as it is released. Pictured above is Tim Norris (Sarsen), Robbie Burns (Sarsen), James Rickwood (Sarsen), Laura Jeffs (Sarsen), Colleen Jameson (Sarsen), Nigel Norman (Sarsen), Chad Hamilton (BittWare), Frederic Parachoux (D-TA Systems), Burkhard Jour (BittWare) and Caroline Jour (BittWare).

BAE Systems Rugged Processor Unit Demo at DSEi 2011

2011-09-07T02:37:00.000-07:00

Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting again at Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEi) in 2011. DSEi will be held from 13th - 16th September, 2011 in London at ExCeL. DSEi provides a unique platform to view the latest equipment and systems from the world’s defence and security industry. DSEi provides an opportunity for companies of all sizes to develop international relationships and generate new business opportunities.

We will have two working demos on our stand this year. A BittWare VPX Rapid Development Platform which is a development environment for 3U VPX Systems and a BAE Systems Rugged Processor Unit. The BAE Systems Rugged Processor Unit uses two VersaLogic Leopard PC/104-Plus Intel Core 2 Duo processor Single Board Computers. The Rugged Processor Unit operates in extreme temperatures, arid, humid, and wet climates and where shock/vibrations are commonplace. Certified to Mil Std 810F, you can be confident that the RPU will deliver the Size Weight and Performance (SWaP) you need.

You will find Sarsen Technology on stand S4-102 and details can be found on the www.dsei.co.uk web site. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sarsen_Tech on Twitter

2011-08-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Follow Sarsen Technology on Twitter: Sarsen_Tech for all our latest news.

July 11 Edition of News Bytes Now Available

2011-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

The July 2011 edition of the Sarsen Technology News Bytes newsletter is now available online at www.sarsen.net. This month we feature new stories about our participation at DSEi2011, Extreme Engineering's XPand5200 1/2 ATR system hardware, sonar sensor processing systems from D-TA Systems and high-performance cPCI data acquisition solutions from General Standards Corporation. You can sign up for next months copy via our web site home page.

DSEi 2011 - BittWare & Extreme Engineering Solutions

2011-07-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

Sarsen is delighted to let you know that we will be joined by colleagues from both BittWare and Extreme Engineering Solutions at the Defence & Security Equipment International exhibition from 13 - 16 September 2011. Burkhard Jour is BittWare's Business Development Director for Europe and Burkhard will be joining us on stand S4-104. Also joining us will be Rob Scidmore who is CEO of Extreme Engineering Solutions. Please contact us via our web site at www.sarsen.net if you would like to pre-book meetings with Burkhard and/or Rob. We look forward to seeing you at DSEi2011!

News Bytes - June Issue Of Our Newsletter Now Available

2011-06-28T08:12:00.001-07:00

The June 2011 issue of the Sarsen Technology News Bytes includes:

Commercial & Rugged Altera Stratix® IV GX 3U VPX Board

Game Changing Technology from Matrox/Trenton Partnership

4-port, CAN bus interface board from UEI

Intel® Atom™ Z530P PC/104-Plus SBC

Also included are two white papers:

Intel® Signage Goes Super-Size with Video Walls: Jim Renehan, Director of Marketing, Trenton Technology discusses the latest video wall technologies

Laser-based Security System Relies on VersaLogic for Processing Power in Extreme Weather Conditions: Effective night time security is a critical deterrent to crime and terrorist activity around the world. Often the rugged environmental conditions prove to be a challenge for security systems

Paul Rainosek Of GSC Visits Sarsen Technology

2011-06-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

The President of General Standards Corporation, Paul Rainosek, visited the Sarsen Technology offices in June. It was great to spend time with Paul and his family and we look forward to meeting with them again in Huntsville, Alabama.

Free Tickets for DSEi 2011

2011-06-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

We have a number of free tickets for the Defence & Security Equipment International exhibition 13 - 16 September at ExCel in London. You will find Sarsen Technology on stand S4-104. After the 30th June the entrance fee is £30 and if you chose to pay at the door on the day it is £100. Please call us on 01672 511166 for the advance tickets.

May 2011 News Bytes Newsletter

2011-05-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

The May 2011 edition of our News Bytes newsletter is available today and will feature:

Extreme Engineering Solutions Intel® Core™i7 Processor-Based 3U Air-Cooled CompactPCI Express Module

General Standards Wide-Range 24-Bit, 16-Channel, 105KSPS Analog Input Module

BittWare Anemone Co-Processor for FPGAs: A New Approach to Floating Point DSP

Trenton Technology PICMG 1.3 System Host Board with Intel Xeon E3-1200 Sandy Bridge CPU

New product catalogues from D-TA Systems and General Standards

Military Embedded Systems interview with Dipak Roy of D-TA Systems

Extreme Engineering Solutions Built-In Test Software

You can sign up for a copy of our News Bytes newsletter via our web site www.sarsen.net

BittWare Anemone - A New Approach to Floating Point DSP

2011-05-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

Traditional floating point DSPs, while excellent at complex processing tasks, have limitations when it comes to chip real estate and power efficiency that have caused them to become an endangered species. And FPGAs, while superior for versatility and configurability, can be difficult to use for complex and evolving applications. The BittWare Anemone, featuring the Epiphany architecture from Adapteva, enables the best assets of both to be combined, thereby offering a completely new approach to floating point digital signal processing. This hybrid solution provides a standard processor software development environment working in conjunction with a world-class FPGA platform, allowing users to optimally partition their algorithms into hardware and software. The result is superior development productivity and unmatched system size, weight, and power.

Intel Takes The Lead for UK Embedded Masterclass 2011

2011-04-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

UMR, the organiser of the Embedded Masterclass, has announced that Intel is to be the headline sponsor at this year’s Embedded Masterclass. The Embedded Masterclass is an annual UK technical conference, practical workshops, and exhibition that brings together hi-tech engineers and vendors for the sharing of information on the very latest in microprocessor technology, debug and development tools and embedded software.

This year’s event will take place at Bar Hill, near Cambridge on Wed 5th October and is expected to build on the success of previous years. www.embedded-masterclass.com

“We are delighted to have Intel on board as our headline sponsor,” said David Williams, Director of UMR, the company organizing the event. “With developments such as the Atom, Intel have brought a lot of innovation to the embedded space in recent years and I feel sure engineers will be keen to learn about their latest offering and their vision for future devices.”

Sarsen Technology is exhibiting at the UK Embedded Masterclass 2011. Please visit our web site at www.sarsen.net for details.

Industry Record - Transistors on an Integrated Circuit

2011-04-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

Altera Breaks Semiconductor Industry Record for Most Transistors on an Integrated Circuit

Industry's Highest-Bandwidth, Highest-Performance FPGA Features a Record-Setting 3.9 Billion Transistors.

San Jose, Calif., April 18, 2011 – Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) today announced it set an industry milestone in semiconductor technology by delivering the most transistors ever packed onto an integrated circuit. Altera's 28-nm V FPGAs are the semiconductor industry's first devices to feature 3.9 billion transistors. This level of functionality delivers unparalleled performance to system designers.

http://bit.ly/i2wLH1

Twitter: Sarsen_Tech

2011-04-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

Follow Sarsen Technology on Twitter: Sarsen_Tech

Altera's 28-nm Variable-Precision DSP Block Architecture Wins the 2011 DesignVision Award

2011-02-08T00:52:00.000-08:00

San Jose, Calif., February 2, 2011—Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) today announced that its variable-precision digital signal processing (DSP) block architecture won the DesignCon 2011 DesignVision Award in the Semiconductor and IC category. Altera's variable-precision DSP block architecture was recognized by DesignVision Award judges for its ability to enable high-precision, high-performance digital signal processing in FPGAs that efficiently supports many different precision levels. This unique architecture is implemented within Altera's portfolio of 28-nm FPGAs to increase system performance, reduce power consumption and reduce architecture constraints for DSP algorithm designers. Altera was presented with the 2011 DesignVision Award at a ceremony held at the Santa Clara Convention Center during DesignCon 2011.

Altera developed the industry's first variable-precision DSP block architecture to meet the industry's demands for higher precision signal processing. This innovative architecture allows each DSP block in the FPGA to be configured at compile time to three 9x9, two 18x18 or a single 27x27 or 18x36 multiplier mode. Additional higher precision modes are available using multiple DSP blocks. This architecture supports, on a block-by-block basis, various precisions per block, ranging from low resolution fixed point video up to single-precision floating point within a single DSP block, and even double-precision floating point with minimal external logic. To learn more about Altera's variable-precision DSP block architecture, or to view a white paper or webcast on the architecture, visit www.altera.com/dsp-variable-precision.

Working on a Rugged Airborne Computer

2011-01-28T02:56:00.000-08:00

Currently working with a key client on a rugged airborne high performance embbeded computing system to be housed in an ATR chassis.

Hardware Modification

2010-12-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

Fortunately this request for advice is not from one of our clients.

MAE2010 - Tuesday 30th November 2010 in Reading

2010-11-26T06:51:00.001-08:00

The future for Military, Defence & Aerospace Electronics …
Join your peers, industry thought-leaders, and VIPs at the UK's only dedicated event on embedded computing and integrated electronic systems for military, defence and aerospace applications.
Jim Renehan of Trenton Technology will be presenting a paper entitled "High Density Computing Systems In Surveillance and Communications Applications" and Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting. Green Hills Software will have an Extreme Engineering Solutions demo running on their stand at the exhibition.www.mae-show.co.uk

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends!

Freescale P4080 Eight PowerPC e500 3U VPX-REDI Board

2010-10-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

The Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) XPedite5470 is keeping us very busy this month. The XPedite5470 is a high-performance 3U VPX-REDI single-board computer based on the Freescale P4080 processor. With eight PowerPC e500 cores running at up to 1.5 GHz, the P4080 delivers enhanced performance and efficiency for today's embedded computing applications. We are seeing great interest for demanding military, research, transportation and medical applications.

The XPedite5470 supports two separate channels of up to 4 GB each of up to DDR3-1333 ECC SDRAM, as well as up to 16 GB of NAND flash and up to 256 MB of NOR flash (with redundancy). The XPedite5470 provides the option of utilizing a PCI Express or Serial RapidIO Fat Pipe P1 interconnect, as well as two SerDes Gigabit Ethernet Thin Pipe P1 fabric interconnects. The XPedite5470 also supports dual Gigabit Ethernet, GPIO, I²C, PMC I/O, XMC I/O, and up to two RS-232/RS-422/RS-485 serial ports through the P2 connector.

The XPedite5470 provides a ruggedized, high-performance, feature-rich solution to support the next generation of rugged embedded applications. Wind River VxWorks, QNX Neutrino, Linux, and Green Hills INTEGRITY Board Support Packages (BSPs) are available.

United Electronic Industries Appoint Sarsen Technology as exclusive UK distributor

2010-10-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

United Electronic Industries announce the appointment of Sarsen Technology as its exclusive distributor in the UK

MARLBOROUGH, WILTSHIRE – 18 October 2010 – United Electronic Industries (UEI) is pleased to announce that it has named Sarsen Technology Limited as its exclusive distributor in the United Kingdom. All UEI sales and marketing activity in the UK will now be handled by Sarsen Technology. The company will also provide first line technical and applications support, but will be fully backed by UEI’s technical support group.

“Both UEI and Sarsen Technology are focused on providing optimum real-time and embedded solutions to our key clients in the defense, aerospace, simulation and transportation markets,” according to Rick Van Nostrand, International Sales Manager at UEI. “Sarsen Technology will give us the in-depth technical and commercial experience our data acquisition and control products deserve. Sarsen’s experience and reputation in serving the embedded electronics marketplace is a welcome addition to UEI’s team of international sales and distribution partners ”

"We see a tremendous amount of opportunity in the UK for United Electronic Industries’ innovative Cube and RACKtangle™ DAQ and control chassis solutions," stated Nigel Norman, Managing Director at Sarsen Technology. "UEI’s data acquisition and control system products along with their supporting IP and software are the perfect addition to our line card. The UEI solutions will enable our customers to quickly deploy their products and in turn, reduce their time-to-revenue. UEI has arguably the industry’s most innovative industrial and embedded control solutions."

— SHEET 1 OF 2 —

About UEI
Founded in 1990, UEI is a leader in the PC/Ethernet data acquisition and control, Data Logger/Recorder and Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) markets. UEI’s I/O “Cube” and RACKtangle are compact, rugged platforms, ideal for DAQ, Logging and control applications in a wide range of applications and industries such as automotive, aerospace/aviation, unmanned vehicles, appliance test, simulator control, in-vehicle test, wind and solar power system control, semiconductor manufacturing, medical equipment and more. UEI offers both COTS and custom products to OEMs, end-users, and systems integrators worldwide. With analog, digital, counter, CAN-bus, Serial I/O, ARINC-429, 1553 I/O and more, UEI will have the interface you need. UEI supports all popular Windows, Vista, Linux and Real-time operating systems, programming languages, and application packages such as LabVIEW, MATLAB, and DASYLab.

About Sarsen Technology Limited

Sarsen Technology is United Electronic Industries exclusive distributor in the United Kingdom. Sarsen’s focus is on providing its customers with the very best in embedded digital signal processing, data acquisition and single board computer products and provides full local technical and commercial support. The company’s mission is to bring high technology solutions to market in the shortest possible time to the benefit of both customers and manufacturers represented in the UK and Europe. Please visit www.sarsen.net or call +44 1672 511166 for more details.

— END —

MAE2010 - Sarsen Technology to exhibit

2010-10-17T05:13:00.001-07:00

Sarsen Technology will be exhibiting at MAE2010 on Tuesday 30 November in Reading, Berkshire, UK. MAE is the industry's premier one-day technology forum focused on the design and development of military, defence and aerospace electronic systems. Dwight Justice of Trenton Technology will be presenting a paper entitled "High Density Computing Systems In Surveillance and Communications Applications" at the MAE2010 conference. Please visit MAE2010 for full details or call us on +44 1672 511166.

New Company Logo

2010-10-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

In our tenth anniversary year, we are launching a new corporate image with a new Sarsen Technology logo.

Sunny & Busy - Day 10 Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies Road Show 2010

2010-09-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

Day 10 of the Road Show meant a short drive across the Wiltshire & Hampshire country side to Roke Manor Research in Romsey. Roke Manor is in a great location in the Test Valley and is a site that Nigel knows well. Nigel met with new and old contacts and had a very productive day - lots of discussions about TigerSHARC DSP, Altera FPGA and single board computer applications. A good end to the week in the September sunshine. The next stop on the Road Show is BAE Systems in Filton, Bristol and another busy day is expected so Gary & Nigel will be attending.

Defence & Aerospace Technology Road Show 2010 - Day Six - SELEX Galileo - Luton

2010-09-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Defence & Aerospace Technology Road Show will be at SELEX Galileo at Capability Green in Luton on Monday 13th September. This was a busy location for the road show last year and Nigel looks forward to meeting with a number of key contacts at the site to discuss the latest FPGA and Intel i7 VPX & XMC COTS solutions we have to offer.

Defence & Aerospace Technology Road Show 2010 - Day Four

2010-09-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

Gary Lock represented Sarsen Technology at Lockheed Martin in Ampthill today. This was Gary's first experience of the Road Show and he met with some key decision makers on future technology requirements at the site.

Defence & Aerospace Road Show 2010 - Day One

2010-09-07T03:37:00.000-07:00

The turn out for the Defence & Aerospace Road Show at SELEX Galileo in Basildon was good and Nigel met with a number of the engineering and management team. The Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) Intel i7 VPX format board solutions was the product area of most interest.

Nigel also met an old collegue from his design engineering days at GEC-Marconi in Frimley that he had not seen for 26 years!

Defence & Aerospace Road Show 2010

2010-09-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

Monday 6th September is day one of the Defence & Aerospace Road Show and we will be at SELEX Galileo in Basildon from 9am. The road show features twenty high-profile suppliers to the defence and aerospace markets and they will be exhibiting their latest technology offerings. We will be featuring COTS hardware and system solutions for applications requiring Single Board Computers, data acquisition, DSP, FPGA, high-speed data recording, ruggedised laptops, conduction-cooled systems and industrial rackmount computers. Last year’s road show was a great success and you can read about the 2010 event here:

Road Show Schedule

Nigel will be representing Sarsen Technology at Basildon; come and say hello from 9am.

Extreme Engineering Solutions Launch New Web Site

2010-07-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) has launched their new website on July 29, 2010. The new features of the X-ES website include a search function, easy navigation, improved product search capability, ability to subscribe/unsubscribe to e-newsletters, the ability to follow X-ES on Twitter, and a link to SupportNet, the extranet website that provides customers with access to technical documentation, software, and ECOs.

X-ES, a leader in the design, manufacture, and support of embedded computing solutions for compute-intensive military, communications, commercial, and industrial applications, provides a product portfolio of commercial-grade to fully ruggedized boards and systems. Our specialty is custom services, from modified COTS to full-scale custom designs, getting you the technology you need as soon as possible. All of our products are backed by an unparalleled level of responsive customer support.

Interesting Post - Trends in Microprocessors - High-end Military Applications Are Beginning To Shift To Intel

2010-07-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

An interesting post from John Keller published on Miltary & Aerospace Electronics web site discusses the processor trends in the defence market place. "When it comes to military embedded computing, basically only two microprocessor manufacturers slug it out for the lion’s share of the defense and aerospace embedded computer market for applications like radar processing. While Freescale has been this market’s 500-pound gorilla for some time, Intel’s latest introduction of its Core i7 microprocessor in January is tipping the defense embedded systems community on its head in a transformation the likes of which seasoned observers have not seen in years."

Read more on the Military & Aerospace Electronics web site.

BittWare Visitors from the USA and Germany

2010-07-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Chad Hamilton and Burkhard Jour of BittWare visited the Sarsen Technology offices in Marlborough Wiltshire this month. We met with some key clients and had new product training meetings whilst Chad & Burkhard were with us. We also found some time for a visit to Silbury Hill and the Avebury henge which are just five miles from our Marlborough office. Sarsen Technology gets it's name from the Sarsen stones to be found at Avebury and Stonehenge. Please click on the photos above for a larger image.

ATLANTiS™ FrameWork Overview "What is BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork and how can it help your FPGA development?"

2010-07-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

New from BittWare is a series of online videos detailing the features and benefits of the ATLANTiS FPGA Framework software. The first in the series is entitled "What is BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork and how can it help your FPGA development process?"

In this video, you will learn more about BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork which provides reconfigurable FPGA components and the necessary infrastructure to implement, simulate, synthesize, validate, and deploy a complete FPGA application on BittWare's Altera-based FPGA products. BittWare's own Chad Hamilton, Director of Applications Engineering, presents. BittWare Video Library.

Business Link Web Site Search Engine Optimisation Workshop

2010-07-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Today Nigel attended a "Search Engine Optimisation Workshop" organised by Business Link at the Castledown Business Centre in Ludgershall, Wiltshire. The presenter was Andy Poulton who provided an excellent review of the key elements of SEO techniques for business web sites. The workshop was attended by 58 representatives of small and medium sized businesses from central Wiltshire. The business types represented a wide range of activity from Electrical Engineers, Web Site Developers, Growers & Sellers of seeds, Business Coaching, Wedding Dance Instructors and Embedded Computing Technology Distributors. Andy's blog can be found at Andy Poulton Blog. The workshop came at a great time for Sarsen Technology as we work towards the launch of our new web site in September 2010.

Sarsen Technology Update - June 2010

2010-06-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

The June 2010 Sarsen Technology Update is now online. This months's newsletter features the VersaLogic Komodo Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Embedded Single Board Computer, Extreme Engineering Solutions XCalibur4331 - Intel® Core™i7 Processor-Based 6U Conduction-Cooled or Air-Cooled VME Module, the EVOC Rugged 15" LCD Portable Computer with Intel® Pentium / Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad Platform and BittWare's ATLANTiS FrameWork that simplifies FPGA Integration and Implementation.

Counterfeit Capacitor?

2010-06-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

I guess you would have to question this device's heritage.

Trenton Technology - PCI Express 1.1, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 – What’s Happening & Why Do I Care?

2010-06-24T09:08:00.001-07:00

It’s pretty clear to me that given the number of PCI Express plug-in cards available on the market today that PCI Express has won the high-bandwidth, serial interconnect wars of a few years ago. No doubt, there are specific application niches were InfiniBand, RapidIO or HyperTransport work the best. However, given the ever-expanding volume and types of PCI Express COTS boards available, you have to admit that PCI Express is the clear victor. Maybe you disagree, but next time you’re searching on-line or in your local Fry’s for a plug-in board let me know how many non-PCI Express high-bandwidth, serial interconnect boards you manage to find. I’m guessing that the number will be very small. Read more...

EVOC Exhibit at Computex Taipei 2010

2010-06-16T03:32:00.000-07:00

EVOC recently exhibited at Computex in Taipei. The show attracted over one hundred thousand visitors from all over the world. EVOC exhibited a number of new embedded computing solutions including rugged laptops and low power fanless industrial PCs: Computex Taipei 2010

Re-inventing the DSP Block - Altera Changes the Game

2010-06-16T01:01:00.000-07:00

FPGA & Programmable Logic Journal has a feature on Altera's complete re-design of the DSP block for their upcoming 28-nm Stratix-V FPGA line: Re-inventing the DSP Block

Oxygen Electronics - Atlantic Design & Manufacturing Show

2010-06-16T00:38:00.000-07:00

Oxygen Electronics recently exhibited at the Atlantic Design & Manufacturing Show at the Javits Convention Center in New York.

Sarsen Technology Update - May 2010

2010-05-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

The May 2010 Sarsen Technology Update newsletter is now on line at Sarsen Technology Update. This month's newsletter features new stories of new product introductions from BittWare, EVOC, Extreme Engineering Solutions and General Standards.

Webcast: The Intel Core i7 microprocessor in aerospace and defence applications

2010-05-13T04:10:00.000-07:00

Ben Klam, Vice President Engineering, of Extreme Engineering Solutions is one of the presenters for the Military & Aerospace Electronics Webcast on Wednesday May 19th. The topic of the webcast is "The Intel Core i7 microprocessor in aerospace and defence applications".

The Intel Core i7 microprocessor is taking the aerospace and defense embedding computing industry by storm, largely do to the floating-point processing capability of the i7 device. While Intel is incorporating floating-point processing in the Core i7 to enable desktop and laptop computers to handle video faster and more efficiently, the military embedded computing community looks to floating point for digital signal processing (DSP) to crunch the complex and fast-moving data streams from radar, sonar, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence systems, as well as for advanced video processing. This Webcast features presentations from prominent embedded computing companies using the Core i7 processor that outline the most promising aerospace and defense applications for the chip, as well as from Intel, the designer and manufacturer of the Core i7.

You can register for this webcast at: Intel Core i7 Webcast

Business Link: The Magic of Web Marketing Seminar

2010-04-22T10:35:00.001-07:00

Nigel attended the Business Link South West "Magic of Web Marketing" seminar presented by Alan Poulton at the Cricklade Hotel & Country Club in Wiltshire this morning. A well attended event with over 60 in the audience from a very broad range of industries. This was the second web marketing event that Nigel had attended and it was a very useful review of the current web world. Alan did a great job and Google seemed to be in every second sentence!

VersaLogic Wildcat Intel Core 2 Duo PC/104 SBC

2010-04-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Details of the new VersaLogic Wildcat PC/104 Single Board Computer have been added to the press release section of our web site:

Sarsen Technology Press Releases

The Wildcat is a high performance PC/104 format SBC based on the 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU.

iPhone - The 4G Version?

2010-04-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

Gizmodo claim to have found the next version of the Apple iPhone in a bar in Redwood City, Cailfornia. They have lots of photos of your next birthday present on their site:

Gizmodo

Altera announces next-generation 28-nm Stratix V FPGA family

2010-04-20T02:02:00.000-07:00

Altera today announced its next-generation 28-nm Stratix V FPGA family, the industry's highest bandwidth FPGA. Offering up to 1.6 Tbps of serial switching capability, Stratix V FPGAs leverage a myriad of new technologies and a leading-edge 28-nm process to reduce the cost and power of high-bandwidth applications.

Manufactured on TSMC's 28-nm High-Performance (HP) process, the Stratix V FPGA family provides up to 1.1 million logic elements (LEs), 53-Mbits embedded memory, 3,680 18x18 multipliers and integrated transceivers operating up to an industry-leading 28 Gbps. The devices also incorporate the industry's highest level of application-targeted hard intellectual property (IP) for increased system integration and performance without the cost and power penalty. The family includes four variants that address a broad range of applications in the wireless/wireline communications, military, broadcast, computer and storage, test and medical markets.

These variants include:

Stratix V GT FPGA - Industry's only FPGA with integrated 28-Gbps transceivers targeting 100G systems and beyond

Stratix V GX FPGA - Supports a wide range of applications with 600-Mbps to 12.5-Gbps transceivers

Stratix V GS FPGA - Optimised for high-performance digital signal processing (DSP) applications with 600-Mbps to 12.5-Gbps transceivers

Stratix V E FPGA - Highest density FPGA ideal for ASIC prototyping, emulation or high-performance computing applications

"The innovations we made in our fifth-generation Stratix family dramatically improve the density and I/O performance of our high-end devices, further strengthening the FPGAs' competitive position versus ASICs and ASSPs," said Vince Hu, vice president of product and corporate marketing at Altera Corporation. "Altera remains committed to solving the challenge of increasing bandwidth while staying within designer's cost and power requirements. From the core to the I/O, we touched all aspects of Stratix V FPGAs to ensure they deliver the highest level of performance, density and integration."

An array of white papers, videos and technical documentation highlighting how Stratix V FPGAs help solve today's most demanding design challenges are available for viewing on Altera's website. To access these materials and a variety of other information on Stratix V FPGAs, visit Altera Stratix V Documentation

Embedded Live - 20-21 October 2010 - Earls Court London

2010-04-15T02:00:00.000-07:00

Looking into exhibiting and/or presenting a paper at Embedded Live in October 2010 at Earls Court. Sarsen Technology used to regularly exhibit at the Embedded Systems Show but we have not done so for the past three years. We would be interested to hear feedback from clients and colleagues.

Trenton Technology Video Demos

2010-04-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

Trenton Technology has started to create video demonstrations for new product releases. Trenton plans on uploading them to You Tube as they become available and they are excited to show existing and prospective users the new items they are releasing.

From the new PCI Express Gen 2 products to the latest and greatest long-life Intel Jasper Forest processors and Nehalem chipsets, these videos will be designed to show you what Trenton Technology hast to offer. So drop by, watch a video and leave a comment. Trenton would love to hear your feedback.

You Tube - Trenton Technology Channel

Sarsen Technology Update - March 2010

2010-03-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

The March 2010 Sarsen Technology Update Newsletter is now available and features:

Trenton Technology's WTM7026 Featuring Two Six-Core Intel® Xeon® Series E5600 Processors

BittWare's Integrated System Framework Implemented in Altera FPGAs

The EVOC PCI/104-E Intel Core 2 Duo CPU Single Board Computer

Extreme Engineering Solution's XPedite7301 - Intel® Core™ i7 Processor-Based XMC Module

Follow this link for the March 2010 Newsletter

BittWare exhibiting at the RTS Embedded Systems Exhibition & Conference - Paris

2010-03-29T03:52:00.000-07:00

Visit BittWare and EMG2 at the RTS Embedded Systems Exhibition & Conference - Porte de Versailles Paris - stand B16 and explore BittWare's signal processing products:

FPGA-computing and hybrid (FPGA+DSP) digital signal processing board-level solutions based on Altera's Stratix family of FPGAs

Rugged (conduction cooled) and commercial (convection cooled) COTS compliant VPX, VME/VXS and CompactPCI boards ideal for military solutions in radar, sonar, SigInt and electronic warfare
Commercial (convection cooled) AdvancedMCs combining the inherent flexibility of MicroTCA with a variety of VITA-57 FMCs (FPGA Mezzanine Cards) for processing and I/O expansion, encouraging hardware reuse and extending product lifecycles for communications solutions in wireless base stations, wireless network test equipment and Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems

Drastically saving development time and risk for FPGA application designers, BittWare's ATLANTiS™ FrameWork for FPGAs provides physical interfaces to I/O and memory, data moving engines, and resource arbitrators along with standard data flow and control fabrics that allow everything to be easily connected and controlled - easing implementation of complex signal processing solutions on FPGAs.

Oxygen Electronics on the BBC World News

2010-03-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

On March 11th, 2010 President Barack Obama, at the annual Export-Import Bank's annual conference, reiterated his goal of doubling exports over the next 5 years. Oxygen Electronics, a time proven exporter, was interviewed and profiled on the BBC in response to this goal: BBC World News Report

Oxygen Electronics on the BBC World News

2010-03-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

Oxygen Electronics' White Plains facilities were filmed this morning by the BBC as part of producing a piece to be aired on the BBC World on Thursday March 10th. The BBC is exploring President Obama's initative to double exports over the next 5 years through the eyes of Oxygen Electronics, an active exporter. Sarsen Technology is Oxygen's UK representative and more details can be found on the Oxygen Electronics Blog.

Embedded World 2010 - Nuremberg

2010-03-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

Three of the manufacturers that Sarsen Technology represents in the UK are exhibiting at Embedded World 2010 in Nuremberg, Germany this week.

BittWare bittware.com is demonstrating it's range of Altera FPGA computing COTS hardware and software on Altera's stand in Hall 9 on Stand 259. If visiting, please ask to speak with Burkhard Jour, BittWare's European Director of Business Development.

Al Clark of Danville Signal Processing danvillesignal.com can be found on the Analog Devices stand 322 in Hall 12. Al would be happy to discuss the new Analog Devices ADSP-21469 SHARC DSP COTS hardware that Danville has just announced.

EVOC evoc.com has an impressive stand in Hall 9 (Stand 135). EVOC designs and manufactures a very wide range of embedded computing products including COM Express Modules, ETX Modules, PC/104 SBCs, Full Size CPU Cards, EPIC SBCs, Mini-ITX SBCs, Micro-ATX SBCs, Rugged Laptops, PanelPCs, Flat Panel Monitors, Industrial Rackmount PCs and many other embedded computing solutions. Please ask to speak with David Lee when you visit the EVOC stand.

Full details of Embedded World 2010 can be found at this web site: embedded-world.de

Visit to St. John's School & Community College in Marlborough

2010-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

A number of the Sarsen Technology team visited the new St. John's School & Community College in Marlborough to meet the school staff and view the physics laboratory that Sarsen Technology has sponsored. Details of the brand new school & community college buildings and facilities can be found on the St. John's web site http://www.stjohns.wilts.sch.uk Pictured above are Dr. Patrick Hazelwood (Headteacher) , Mr. Luke Henderson (Science Teacher), Nigel Norman (Sarsen Technology MD), Lynn Scholefield (Sarsen Technology Office Manager), James Rickwood (Sarsen Technology Sales), Angela Boyce (Sarsen Technology Marketing Director) and Tim Norris (Sarsen Technology Sales).

Gary Lock Joins Sarsen Technology Sales Team

2010-01-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

Sarsen Technology, the UK industry-leading distributor of embedded COTS hardware & software solutions, has appointed Gary Lock as its Sales Account Manager.

Lock brings 15 years’ experience of selling Rugged & Industrial Computer solutions to a number of vertical markets where reliable operation is essential in the most demanding of environments. He has specific experience in supplying COTS and modified COTS solutions for mission critical applications in Defence, Transport and the Oil & Gas industries. Lock will be growing business with key target accounts selling Sarsen’s high technology range of Industrial and Embedded PC range including solutions from manufacturers Trenton Systems, VersaLogic & EVOC.

“With the development of faster, smaller and low-powered processing technology, we are beginning to see processors in an ever-increasing range of new and exciting applications” says Lock. “I am very familiar with the market and am looking forward to introducing Sarsen’s superb range of COTS solutions to my contacts in the industry,” he added. “Sarsen represent only the best high technology manufacturers with tested and trusted solutions that are demanded in the applications where reliability is vital in the toughest of environments. I am looking forward to showing customers the benefits of selecting quality products at the initial design phase and through the life of a project.”

Nigel Norman, Managing Director of Sarsen Technology Limited, comments “with a growing range of technological solutions to offer our customer, and Gary’s knowledge of the market, we are looking forward to our second consecutive year of rapid growth in 2010.”

Sarsen Technology sponsors St John’s College science room

2010-01-04T06:18:00.000-08:00

Sarsen Technology sponsors St John’s College science room

A Marlborough-based company whose technological solutions include sonar equipment to survey the polar ice cap, next-generation mobile phone systems, and controls for wave-energy machines has sponsored one of the two physics laboratories at the new St John’s School, which opens in 6 weeks’ time.

Nigel Norman, Managing Director of Sarsen Technology, says the company wanted to show its support for the school as it needs extra funding to put the finishing touches to its state-of–the-art science department.

“We have children at the school, and I can’t think of a better way of putting something back into our local community at this moment in time” said Mr Norman. “ Moreover, I firmly believe that the UK’s future as a successful economy lies in its ability stay ahead in the global technology race by continuing to turn out highly-skilled and extremely knowledgeable scientists and engineers.”

Sarsen Technology Limited is an industry-leading distributor of embedded hardware and software, supplying some of Europe’s leading players in the telecommunications, security, instrumentation, research and aerospace industries.
“Sarsen is a specialist provider at the cutting edge of technology solutions working with some of the UK’s leading scientists and engineers” explained Mr Norman “so it seems appropriate that the funding should be directed at this area of education”.

The science department in the new St John’s school is based in the northern end of the new building, overlooking the town. The laboratories and classrooms have been carefully designed to make learning an exciting experience for the school’s 1,600 students. St John’s has been raising funds for almost two years to buy furniture & equipment for the new school building, and a number of classrooms have already been sponsored by businesses and by private individuals. The Sarsen Technology room is the second science room to have been sponsored and will have a plaque fitted to recognise the company’s support.

Headteacher Dr Patrick Hazlewood met Nigel Norman to thank him for his support and to explain how important corporate sponsorship is to the new school. “I am delighted that Sarsen Technology has sponsored one of the state-of-the-art science rooms in our new school. It has been a great boost to us to be able to meet and thank so many people who have given donations to help make our new school a reality. We are all looking forward to opening the doors to students on 7th December and being able to give them the benefit of such a marvellous new building.”

St John’s School & Community College in Marlborough has a catchment area of over 250 square miles from a primarily rural area of Wiltshire, and has more than 1,500 students age 11-18. In 2009 73% of students achieved five or more A* to C grade GCSEs placing St John’s as one of the top performing state schools in the county. The ALPS (Advanced Level Performance Systems) data for 2009 ranks St Johns as Outstanding, placed in the top 10% of schools, based on the progress made by students from GCSE to A-level and the quality of teaching& learning.
Currently based on two 1960s sites in the town, 50% of students are being taught in ageing “temporary” classrooms, some of which have been in place for over 30 years. Following a Turf-cutting ceremony performed by England football legend Stuart Pearce in May 08 building work on a new single-site school commenced and the new building will open to students in December 2009.
Uniquely, the school has funded the development itself by selling land for development, preferring this route to waiting another decade for government funding to become available. The new St John’s is a single-site, purpose-built school with excellent facilities that will give students, as well as the wider community, a place to be proud of.

Sarsen Technology Celebrates 10 Years

2010-01-04T00:23:00.000-08:00

Sarsen Technology is ten years old today!

EVOC Gathering - Dusseldorf

2009-12-11T04:47:00.000-08:00

Prior to visiting the EVOC Dusseldorf office, the EVOC European distribution team met to discuss market applications and EVOC's plans for Europe in 2010. Here are a few images from the meeting.

EVOC Distributor Gathering in Dusseldorf

2009-11-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

On Monday 16th November Tim & Nigel of Sarsen Technology attended the inaugural EVOC European distributor meeting in Dusseldorf. Amy Pan, EVOC's Director of Global Sales presented the key note speech. We were pleased to meet up with old friends including colleagues from EVOC, Pietro from Eurolink Systems in Italy and Otto from Expando Systems in Sweden. Nigel also enjoyed meeting with an "on-line" industry colleague - Patrick Hooper of Open Systems Media. Following a full day of presentations from the EVOC team and four of the distributors (including a presentation by Sarsen) a visit to EVOC's Dusseldorf office was arranged. This office provides technical support services to the European market and also contains an impressive showroom featuring the extensive embedded computing solutions available from EVOC.

BittWare & Sarsen Technology meet with key customers in Scotland

2009-11-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

On Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd November Burkhard Jour and Bernard Doherty of BittWare joined Nigel at meetings with key clients in the Edinburgh area. Between meetings we stopped off to view the Forth Rail Bridge.

EVOC Distributor Gathering - Duesseldorf

2009-11-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

Tim & Nigel are travelling to the EVOC Distributor Gathering in Duesseldorf on Sunday 15th November. Nigel is making a short presentation to the gathering on Monday afternoon.

EVOC's Yanyan and Laura share a coffee break

2009-10-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

EVOC's Chinese name is YanXiang and they have a male and female mascot called Yanyan and Xiangxiang respectively. Pictured here is Laura, who is with our Oxygen Electronics UK team, and Yanyan sharing a coffee break. EVOC is China's largest manufacturer of embedded computing hardware. Please visit their website at www.evoc.com to find out more.

Trenton Systems Expand Gainesville Manufacturing Facility

2009-10-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Trenton Systems has recently opened their expanded manufacturing facility in Gainesville, Georgia, USA.

New 19" Rackmount Computer website launched by Trenton Technology

2009-10-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Trenton Systems launch their new Rackmount Computer systems web site featuring 2U, 4U, 5U, 6U, MicroTCA and custom solutions: Trenton Systems

EVOC meet the sarsen stones at Stonehenge

2009-10-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

On the way back to Heathrow, David, Jonny, Achilles and Nigel found time for a flying visit to Stonehenge. Stonehenge is 20 miles due south from the Sarsen Technology office and the large sarsen stones used to build the outer ring of the henge were dragged that distance from their original home on the Marlborough Downs. The outer ring is estimated to have been completed 3500 years ago.

Old Trafford one day, Stonehenge the next.....

2009-10-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

Sarsen's travels with our colleagues from EVOC www.evoc.com took us to Preston and Rochdale on Wednesday 14th October. On Thursday we were in Hunmanby and Salford. We took the opportunity to visit Old Trafford whilst we were there and Achilles got into the Christmas spirit in the megastore!

On Friday we travelled to Wincanton and stopped off at Stonehenge on the way to Heathrow. Quite a contrast to Old Trafford.

Off on our travels again

2009-10-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

The UK leg of the Defence & Aerospace road show is over but we are now entertaining three visitors from EVOC www.evoc.com Tim took David, Jonny & Achilles to customer meetings in Farnborough and Crowthorne today. Tomorrow, Nigel is driving our guests to meet with clients in Preston, Rochdale and Hunmanby in north Yorkshire.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - Day 16

2009-10-12T14:22:00.001-07:00

The road show reached its final destination today at EADS in Newport, south Wales. Sarsen Technology was the exhibitor with the largest number of visitor enquiries over the 16 days of the UK tour and John Aldridge, owner of Dream Marketing, presented Nigel with an "outstanding contribution" award (principally for being the only person to attend every single one of the 16 days).

The road show was a successful event for Sarsen and raised our profile greatly at a number of key UK defence and aerospace OEMs.

The tour continues this week at Airbus in Toulouse. Sarsen Technology will not be travelling to France but we wish our colleagues at BittWare and EMG2 every success.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - Day 15

2009-10-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

Day 15 of the roadshow was a second busy, but shorter, day at QinetiQ at Boscombe Down. We had a number of discussions with the QinetiQ project teams on solutions from BittWare, Oxygen Electronics, Trenton Technology and VersaLogic. This was the last stop on the roadshow for a number of new friends from participating exhibitors. The photo above is of Michelle from Qualitetch and Steve from Cinch. The roadshow continues next week and visits EADS in Newport on Monday 12th October.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - Day 14

2009-10-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Day 14 of the roadshow took us to QinetiQ at Boscombe Down near Salisbury. The heavy rain had finally stopped. Steve from Cinch pointed out that it was still summer when the roadshow had started and now it was definately autumn. This site is just 20 miles from the Sarsen Technology office and the roadshow was very busy from the moment it opened. We had a number of good conversations with the QinetiQ engineering teams and the sarsen stress rock giveaways were all handed out by 10.30am. More sarsen stones are being mined this evening for tomorrow's roadshow at QinetiQ - Boscombe Down from 9.30am until midday.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - Day 13

2009-10-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Very familiar ground for Sarsen Technology when the roadshow visited Thales Underwater Systems in Templecombe, Somerset today. Despite the heavy rain, the visitor numbers were very good and Sarsen Technology met with a good number of the Thales team. There are a number of good new project opportunities for the technologies exhibited by Sarsen and everyone participating in the roadshow seemed to have a very busy and productive day. Just two more days of the 15 to go! Tomorrow the European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow visits QinetiQ in Boscombe Down.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - 6th October 2009

2009-10-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

The roadshow was in a rainy Bristol for the second day running. Today the circus sorry roadshow visited Rolls-Royce. Both Airbus and Rolls-Royce would seem to be investing heavily in new R&D and production facilities in Bristol - great to see. It was a busy day at Roll-Royce with Oxygen Electronics obsolete component sourcing technology of most interest to the visitors to the Sarsen Technology booth. Tomorrow the roadshow heads south to Thales in Templecombe.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - Week 3

2009-10-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

The Roadshow will be visiting the following sites on week three:

Monday 5th Oct - Airbus - Filton - Bristol
Tuesday 6th Oct - Rolls-Royce - Filton - Bristol
Wednesday 7th Oct - Thales Group - Templecombe
Thursday 8th Oct - QinetiQ - Boscombe Down - Amesbury
Friday 9th Oct - QinetiQ - Boscombe Down - Amesbury

The roadshow is open from 9.30am until 2pm each day. The full list of manufacturers and suppliers include Cinch connectors, TT Electronics, Jaltech, Morgan ceramics, Reliance Precision, Variohm Eurosensor, ETL, Phillips Screw Co and Altium. We look forward to seeing you there!

Roadshow Update - Friday 2 October

2009-10-03T05:02:00.000-07:00

The European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow visited BAE Systems Aerosystems International in Yeovil on Friday 2nd October. There was a good turn out from a number of the departments at the site. The Trenton Systems 19" Rackmount embedded computing systems and the VersaLogic EBX format single board computers were the solutions of most interest. The Sarsen Technology sarsen stone/rock giveaways are still proving popular. Yeovil is a town dominated by helicopter technology and businesses focussed on that market. The Friday afternoon drive home was made more enjoyable by listening to the new CD compilation provided by Darren Taylor at BittWare. Thanks again Darren!

Roadshow Travels - Thursday 1st October

2009-10-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today the roadshow visited GE Avionics in Cheltenham. Nigel is trying to remember that there is no nearside wing mirror whilst negotiating the morning traffic! The roadshow organisers had re-arranged the stand layout on the mega truck but Sarsen Technology still had the same spot. A number of useful discussions with Systems Engineers today. Tomorrow the roadshow visits BAE Systems in Yeovil.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - Week 2

2009-09-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

The roadshow has visited Roke Manor Research in Romsey, BAE Systems in Farnborough and Lockheed-Martin in Havant this week. Tomorrow it is Thursday so it must be GE Aviation in Cheltenham and on Friday it is BAE Systems Aerosystems International in Yeovil. This week the locations are very convenient for Sarsen as they are all about an hours drive north, south, east and west from Marlborough. Nigel's car sustained some damage returning from Goodrich last Friday. A tyre was punctured and then a truck ran over the jack whilst the wheel was being changed which resulted in the nearside wing mirror being ripped off. It could have been a lot worse but not the best way to end a long working week!

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - Thursday 28th September Photos

2009-09-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

The European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 visited Lockheed-Martin (INSYS) on Thursday 28th September. Visitors to the Sarsen Technology stand discussed the technology solutions from Trenton Technology, BittWare, Oxygen Electronics and VersaLogic.

The weather was perfect all week - if you weren't stuck on a lorry, that is! The Roadshow was well attended at every stop of the tour with more than 350 visitors. Of the 20 companies exhibiting on the truck, Sarsen has generated the most interest so far.

Oxygen Electronics Blog

2009-09-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

Find out what is happening in the world of sourcing obsolete, allocated and hard-to-find electronic components at the Oxygen Electronics blog: http://oxygenelectronics.blogspot.com

"Oxygen Electronics, founded in 1995, is a leading Independent Distributor of Electronic Components. With more than 90,000 different obsolete items are currently in stock, sales staff in both North American and Europe and tens of thousands of transactions completed annually, our experience and knowledge are second to none."

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - First Week Photos

2009-09-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

A few images from the first week of the 2009 European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Roadshow. More will be added next week when visiting Siemens Roke Manor Research, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and GE Aviation.

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009 - First Week

2009-09-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

An enjoyable and productive week meeting new and old customers at Selex S&AS in Luton, Goodrich Automation Systems in Wolverhampton, Rolls-Royce in Derby, Lockheed Martin (INSYS) in Ampthill and Goodrich Power Systems in Pitstone. The key product areas that generated the most interest were the EVOC rugged laptops, BittWare's Altera Stratix IV FPGA solutions, Trenton Technology's 19" Rackmount server solutions and VersaLogic's PC/104-Plus Single Board Computers.

The sites to be visited next week are closer to home for the Sarsen team so no more nights away! Monday is Siemens Roke Manor Research in Romsey, then BAE Systems in Farnborough, followed by Lockheed-Martin in Havant on Wednesday, GE Aviation in Cheltenham on Thursday and BAE Systems Aerosystems International in Yeovil on Friday. If you are planning to visit the Roadshow or would like more details please visit this site http://www.aero-mag.com/issues/september09/PDF/AM_September09_Supplement.pdf or call Sarsen Technology on 01672 511166.

Trenton Technology Blog

2009-09-22T23:42:00.000-07:00

Discover what is new in the world of high-end industrial embedded computing by visiting the Trenton Technology blog at http://blog.trentontechnology.com

European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow 2009

2009-09-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Sarsen Technology is one of twenty companies participating in the 2009 European Defence & Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Roadshow. The roadshow takes place this year between 21st September - 16th October on a one month tour across the UK and Europe visiting many of the industry's major design, development and research facilities along the way. Included on the itinerary are visits to Selex Galileo in Luton, Goodrich Actuation Systems in Wolverhampton, Rolls-Royce in Derby, Lockheed-Martin in Ampthill, Goodrich Power Systems in Pitstone, Siemens Roke Manor in Romsey, BAE Systems in Farnborough and GE Aviation in Cheltenham.

On board the exhibition vehicle is a group of twenty suppliers demonstrating leading edge technologies for the defence and aerospace markets directly to customers on it's premises, meeting directly with many of the engineers and developers who don't always manage to get to more traditional trade shows.

We are currently in Derby meeting with Rolls-Royce and Sarsen Technology is discussing new Altera Stratix IV GX COTS hardware from BittWare, Oxygen Electronics component sourcing services, high-performance PICMG 1.3 computing solutions from Trenton Technology and rugged, embedded single board computing solutions from VersaLogic. There is a good mix of technology solutions on the roadshow and customers are keen to discuss new project opportunities. Tomorrow is Thursday so it must be Lockheed-Martin (INSYS) in Ampthill!