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Power1401

Power1401 history

Conceived as a 1401 for much more demanding acquisition and control tasks, the Power1401 has much more memory and much faster processors than the lower performance micro range of interfaces. The Power mkII was the first to use a fan to cool the processor. It was also the first to receive a front panel mounted on/off switch.

All in the Power1401 range are able to have their firmware upgraded via the host interface and try1401 program. This removes any need to access the circuit boards unless the user is expanding the number of inputs and outputs.

The internal and external metalwork is fundamentally the same as for the micro1401 but has been widened to fit a standard 19 inch rack allowing for more front and rear panel connections on the base unit. Rack mount ears are supplied free of charge at time of purchase.

Rear panel digital I/O connections are the same for all Powers and the 3, the MkII and 625kHz units share the same high density analogue expansion 37 way D type. The original MkI had a low density 25 pin D type connector. Unlike the Micro, the Power1401s have eight ADC inputs on the rear analogue expansion connector.

These are always elevated to the last numbered ADCs in the range, so if an ADC 16 expansion card were added then the rear ADCs move from port numbers 8-15 and become ports 24 through 31.

Comparison of data rates and processor speeds depends on the application. These processor speeds were measured for a 4096 point FFT.

The Power-3 was replaced by the Power-3A in August 2016. The 3A is essentially the same as the 3, but has features re-designed for manufacturing convenience. We took the opportunity to make some minor improvements.

Power1401-3A

Date of original manufacture: August 2016 - present
Motherboard revisions: 4001-1D
Processor: 32-bit Marvell MV78100
Memory: 1GB expandable to 2GB
Data rate to host: 47MB/s
Data rate to 1401: 45MB/s
ADC: 1MHz (3MHz single channel) 16-bit
DAC: 400kHz 16-bit
Voltage range: ±5 or ±10v software selectable
Host interface: USB 2.0
Expansion: Spike2, Signal, PGF8, PGA16, ADC16, 2701PG
Synchronising port: Yes
Firmware: Software upgradable via the website
Programmable gain option: Yes
Compatible with: Spike2 V7.10c upwards, Signal V5.08 upwards

Power1401-3A

Power1401-3

Date of original manufacture: Sept 2012 - July 2016
Motherboard revisions: 4001-B
Processor: 32-bit Marvell MV78100
Memory: 1GB expandable to 2GB
Data rate to host: 47MB/s
Data rate to 1401: 45MB/s
ADC: 1MHz (3MHz single channel) 16-bit
DAC: 400kHz 16-bit
Voltage range: ±5 or ±10v software selectable
Host interface: USB 2.0
Expansion: Spike2, Signal, PGF8, PGA16, ADC16, 2701PG
Synchronising port: Yes
Firmware: Software upgradable via the website
Programmable gain option: Yes
Compatible with: Spike2 V7.10c upwards, Signal V5.08 upwards

Power1401-3

Power1401 mkII

Date of original manufacture: Sept 2007 - Sept 2012
Motherboard revisions: 3601-B, C, D
Processor: 32-bit Intel 800 MHz XScale
Memory: 256MB expandable to 1GB (later 512 standard as 256 unavailable)
Data rate to host: 20MB/s
Data rate to 1401: 9.2MB/s
ADC: 1MHz (2.5MHz single channel) 16-bit
DAC: 400kHz 16-bit
Voltage range: ±5 or ±10v software selectable
Host interface: USB 2.0
Expansion: Spike2, Signal, PGF8, PGA16, ADC16, 2701PG
Synchronising port: Yes
Firmware: Software upgradable via the website
Programmable gain option: Yes
Compatible with: Spike2 V6.13 upwards, Signal V3.11 upwards

Power1401 mkII

Power1401 625kHz

Date of manufacture: Feb 2003 - Jul 2007
Motherboard revisions: 2701-D, E
Processor: 32-bit StrongARM RISC processor
Memory: 32Mb expandable to 256MB
ADC: 625kHz 16-bit
DAC: 400kHz 16-bit
Voltage range: ±5 or ±10v via hardware modification
Host interface: PCI or USB 2.0
Expansion: Spike2, Signal, PGF8, PGA16, ADC16, 2701PG
Synchronising port: Yes
Firmware: Software upgradable via the website
Programmable gain option: Yes
Compatible with: all Spike2, all Signal

Power1401 625kHz

Power1401 mkI

Date of manufacture: Aug 1999 – May 2003
Motherboard revisions: 2701-B, C
Processor: 32-bit StrongARM RISC processor
Memory: 16MB expandable to 64MB (to 256MB later)
Data rate to host: 4.7MB/s
Data rate to 1401: 3.1MB/s
ADC: 400kHz 16-bit
DAC: 400kHz 16-bit
Voltage range: ±5 or ±10v via hardware modification
Host interface: PCI or USB
Expansion: Spike2, Signal, PGF8, PGA16, ADC16, 2701PG
Synchronising port: No (Some modified to accept sync through on/off switch mod)
Firmware: Software upgradable via the website
Programmable gain option: Yes
Compatible with: all Spike2, all Signal