Winchester, UK - Independent electronics R&D centre, Roke Manor Research Ltd (Southampton, UK) has launched the world's first commercial generic high voltage test facility.

The Roke High Voltage Facility will be available to both public and private sector organisations that wish to test and commission high voltage and high power RF equipment such as accelerator components, ultra high power RF amplifiers, associated transmission lines plus electrostatic systems.

The new service can accommodate Radio Frequency (RF) power and voltage on a massive scale. The service combines high voltage isolation with screening to 18 GHz, whereby most other facilities only allow for testing at 50 Hz or at low voltage.

The facility is targeting R&D specialists designing systems that require multiple high power amplifiers that have tight synchronization demands and signal distribution complexity. In a controlled and isolated environment, the energizing and test of high voltage power supplies, high power drivers and transmission lines can be conducted in complete safety.

Alastair Cook, Industrial and Medical Business Sector Manager at Roke, said: "A major issue for organizations wanting to test high power and high voltage systems is the availability of facilities and management of the hazards. Reliance on government or academic services can mean that an organization outside that sphere of influence doesn't get priority when booking in lab time or full system tests can't be done. Our new High Voltage Facility represents the largest single investment Roke has made in testing for a number of years and we hope that organizations across the world will recognize the benefit of this unique and easy to access resource."

The HV facility has two screened chambers, one for the equipment under test and a second to hold test equipment and power supplies. Control is performed from a remotely operated and isolated console from which tests can be controlled and progress viewed via a high resolution camera link and optically isolated test gear.

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