New CompactFlash Serial Cards Expand Connectivity for PDAs and other Handheld PCs.

Small-size CompactFlash serial cards provide robust functionality including industry-leading speeds, advanced power conservation features, and an extensive driver set. They are ideal for adding serial ports to handhelds, PDAs, tablets, laptops, and embedded systems for a wide variety of mobile computing applications including retail POS, field data collection, industrial monitoring and control, and office automation.

Quatech has just introduced a new line of these small-size serial cards that provide robust functionality including industry-leading speeds, advanced power conservation features, and an extensive driver set. They are ideal for adding serial ports to handhelds, PDAs, tablets, laptops, and embedded systems for a wide variety of mobile computing applications including retail POs, field data collection, industrial monitoring and control, and office automation.

Most handheld and tablet PCs do not ship with serial ports, and these ports are becoming increasingly scarce on Laptop computers as well. CompactFlash (CF) is often the best expansion option for these small devices. Quatech's new line includes a one port RS-232 serial CF card (SSCF-100), a two port RS-232 serial CF card (DSCF-100), and a one port RS-422/485 serial CF card (SSCF-200/300). These additional ports can be used to connect to a wide variety of serial peripheral equipment including GPS receivers, bar code scanners, card readers, touch screens, printers, digital cameras, fax/modems, test stands, CNC machines and PLCs.

"We have been a leader in the mobile connectivity industry for over two decades," said Steve Runkel, Quatech's president and CEO. "Our PCMCIA connectivity line is widely recognized as the most robust and most complete in the industry. Our new serial CompactFlash cards are a natural outgrowth of that line. The CF line is central to our key business strategy of providing products that permit Quatech customers to leverage their investments in legacy peripherals while taking advantage of the latest technology advances in portable computing."

Quatech's new serial CF cards provide the highest speed serial connectivity available, up to 921.6 kbps-- an eight-fold improvement over the 115.2 kbps provided by a typical, non-optimized serial port. These cards can be used in any Handheld, PDA, Tablet, Laptop or Notebook computer with a CompactFlash slot. They can also be used in standard PCMCIA slots using a CF adapter card (not included). The cards are compatible with both 3.3V and 5V systems.

Quatech CF cards are small, light and have low power requirements, including a special feature that automatically reduces power consumption when terminal equipment is not connected. Single port cards provide ESD protected serial ports. Two port cards provide ± 50VDC isolation for each port. All are housed in a sturdy metal case and have a convenient removable connector cable. To ensure reliable connectivity in extreme environments, the single port RS-232 model is also available with a ruggedized attached cable (SSPR-100).

The cards are supported under Windows CE and Pocket PC, making them ideal choices for the most popular handheld devices. Support is also provided for Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP and DOS, enabling the cards to be used with most Tablet, Laptop, and Desktop PCs as well.

For application examples involving Quatech serial CompactFlash cards see:

• RS-232 Serial CompactFlash Application Examples
  
  
• RS-422/485 Serial CompactFlash Application Examples
  
  
• Specifications on Quatech One and Two Port RS-232 Serial CompactFlash Cards
  
  
• Specifications on Quatech One Port RS-422/485 Serial CompactFlash Cards
  
  
• Serial CompactFlash Card (.pdf) Datasheet