Watchdog is the latest addition to the established Mentor and Mastermind family of Master Reference generator products, and increases the range and number of signal detection and changeover operations in any dual redundant SPG configuration.
Available in either 1RU or 2RU frame formats, Watchdog has the capacity to detect and / or switch up to 24 discreet pairs of reference signals from a set of main and reserve SPGs.
Frames may be fitted with single or dual power supplies and for further resilience, rear connector units have by-pass relays to ensure that an output is always retained, in the event of board removal or a total loss of power.
The advanced detection circuitry automatically recognises the electrical format of each input and applies appropriate checks for signal integrity and stability. Signal formats including Black & Burst, Tri-level Sync, 10 MHz, LTC, 1 pps and AES (DARS) are all supported and the detection results fed to a PC software package enabling local or remote monitoring of system status.
In addition to monitoring the various input signal parameters, each A/B signal pair undergoes a number of comparison checks on signal level, sync timing and frame alignment, with the resulting information fed back to the PC monitoring system. It is then possible to check any phase differences between incoming signals, to an accuracy of +/- 25 ns.
Each board has front edge status indicators and switches to select auto or manual changeover, and to choose whether the board for a specific signal format is preset for a specific format or will adapt automatically.
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