Pentek Inc. announced the most recent addition to the Talon RTX 25xx series, a new high performance small form factor (SFF) recorder product line for extreme operating environments. Optimized for SWaP, the rugged sealed ½ ATR recorders are available with multiple input options and up to 30.7 TB of removable SSD storage. These SFF recorders provide real-time streaming data rates up to 4 GB/s for multi-channel, wide bandwidth RF signal recording.

The Model RTX 2590 provides eight phase-coherent 250 MHz 16-bit A/D channels, for recording up to 100 MHz of RF/IF signal bandwidth per channel with excellent dynamic range. It can sample RF/IF signals up to 700 MHz and provides digital down-converters with output bandwidths selectable from 5 kHz to 100 MHz.

"Our new extremely rugged ½ ATR recorder provides real-time sustained recording rates up to 4 GB/s," said Chris Tojeira, Recording Systems director, Pentek. He added, “We can capture the full bandwidth of all eight 250 MHz 16-bit phase-coherent A/Ds in this single compact chassis.”

Extremely Rugged, Sealed Design

Engineered to operate in the toughest environments with high levels of shock and vibration, the RTX recorder's chassis keeps all electronics sealed from the external environment. The ½ ATR chassis uses military standard circular I/O connectors to control RF emissions while protecting the recorder’s electronics from humidity, water, dust, sand and salt fog.

The Talon RTX SFF chassis further 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.

Designed to operate from -40ºC to +60ºC, these recorders can handle most thermal environments, making them ideal for UAVs, aircraft pods, tight equipment bays, military vehicles and most outdoor environments.

High Speed Data Storage and Security

Pentek’s QuickPac drive pack is easily removed from the recorder via a set of captive thumb screws on the front panel. An empty QuickPac drive pack can replace a full one for short down times and extended missions. A companion offload system for the QuickPac drive pack is available so the recorder can be redeployed while the recorded data is transported and reviewed via the offload system at a ground facility. The QuickPac drive pack holds up to 30.7 TB of SSD data storage and supports RAID levels 0, 5 or 6.

For secure applications, a separate operating system drive can be removed, allowing users to extract all non-volatile memory from the system in just a few seconds.

Mission Computer Capable

Talon RTX 25xx series recorders with the Intel Core i7 7700K, 7th Generation Quad Core 4.2 GHz processor and 8 GB DDR4 DRAM, are expandable to 16 or 32 GB with enough processing power to act as the primary mission computer when needed. Utilizing the processing power adds slightly to the power budget, but delivers state-of-the-art processing for mission applications and control.

Ease of Operation

Pentek's SystemFlow® software interface is integrated into every Talon recorder. The software includes the graphical user interface (GUI) that is used to control the recorder with point-and-click configuration management, a client/server communication interface. NTFS file system support and an application programming interface (API) for custom user applications and control. Signal analysis tools include a virtual oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, and spectrogram to monitor signals before, during and after data collection.  The system can be controlled remotely via the Gigabit Ethernet interface available on one of the MIL-STD circular connectors.

Available Options and Simulation Package

The Talon SFF recorders offer an optional GPS receiver for precise time and position stamping. Additional QuickPac drive packs with 3.8 to 30.7 TB are available. Computer I/O on all models includes Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, RS-232 and HDMI.

Pentek's SystemFlow Simulator provides a "test drive" of the SystemFlow recording software installed on all Talon recording systems. The simulator allows users to operate the standard GUI and the SystemFlow API. 

Pricing and Delivery

The Talon RTX 25xx SFF Series recorders start at $79,995 USD. Delivery is ten weeks ARO.