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Technology Stocks : The New QLogic (ANCR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: w2j2 who wrote (18574)	10/14/1998 12:11:00 PM
From: Greg Hull	Respond to of 29386

Walter, <<the switches on AWACS would HAVE to be rated for higher than 10,000 feet. The Air Force would not accept that. This, despite the fact the planes are pressurized to a few thousand feet altitude, because they would HAVE to function in a depressurized situation. I bet the MkII-8 has been made less "hardened" in order to save costs. Higher altitude probably means less heat dissipation, as you suggested, (maybe there is a smaller fan and power supply). High altitude is colder, but if this was a problem they would have given a temperature range. I doubt that the low pressure at altitude would have any direct effect on electronics. >> I checked the altitude ratings on the other switches. The MKII-16 has the same spec as the MKII-8, and the 1/4 speed switches do not have a published spec. I remember reading info that someone posted on AWACS a while ago, and I seem to remember that the planes operated at a surprisingly low altitude. I don't know how altitude would affect the electronics directly (outgassing of the epoxy?), but clearly the lower density of air would reduce the heat dissipation. Whether it is enough to cause I problem I don't know. The temp range specified is the standard mil spec. Perhaps someone who works with military hardware (tmrent?) would be able to fill us in. Greg