The New TCA: Solutions for Avionics Installations Webinar

Summary

With a long history of serving the aviation community, we understand our customers’ needs for reliability, quality, and delivery. As a result of that decades-long heritage, Times Microwave designed a complete system of cables, connectors, tools, and accessories that make installation easy and clean—the TCA product family. Carrie Obedzinski and Kevin Moyher, two leading industry experts, discuss the challenges and requirements of airframe installations. From reduced inventory and foreign object debris (FOD) to time and cost savings, customers around the world have tested and approved thousands of our TCA assemblies.

Watch the video or read the session notes below.

Session Notes

Times Microwave Systems’^® engineering and manufacturing capabilities enable us to deliver RF products that meet the most demanding and unusual aviation requirements, including customized solutions and product design, installation, regulatory compliance, and performance improvement. Most importantly, with fully integrated manufacturing production, we have all the necessary assembly and testing capabilities in-house. We deliver RF interconnect solutions from conception through flight testing and production.

This webinar will detail some of the challenges and requirements of airframe installations and present some excellent solutions for making them easier, more efficient, and reliable.

We have been manufacturing our three most popular 50 Ohm aviation cables, spanning from the HF to the KA band, for many years. Times’ LMR^®-FR, for example, is one of the most popular products for wireless applications. It is very easy to terminate in the field and comes with a complete line of connectors and tooling. Its fire-retardant FR jacket meets FAA flame test requirements. MaxGain^® is our higher-frequency band cable; it’s an outstanding solution for KU and KA-SATCOM feeders. TCA, the focus of this webinar, is our high-performance cable used for higher temperature ranges up to 200°C.

There is some overlap between our avionics solutions because multiple products are suitable for certain applications. Times’ experienced engineering team members can help you determine which product to use based on your requirements such as flexibility or in-field assembly; or we can even create a new solution if needed, as we specialize in custom-engineered cable assemblies.

The TCA Product Line

We have been listening to our aviation customers—visiting them on site to understand what is important to their companies. Maintenance and safety are typically mentioned by installers, procurement and management alike.

Our aviation customers are also focused more than ever on minimizing waste, improving efficiencies, and reducing costs and inventories, including time savings in manufacturing processes and MRO aircraft installations. To satisfy these priorities, we have expanded our TCA product line to include a complete end-to-end RF interconnect solution for avionics, including cables, modular connectors, tooling and a pulling nose tool.

The TCA product line features Times’ lightweight, low-loss, high-temperature, highly flexible TCA cable, ideal for meeting avionics’ critical electrical and mechanical performance requirements for applications including satellite communications, collision avoidance, navigation, and more. TCA is great for routing cable through tight runs. It is an industry-standard construction and can satisfy an equivalent drop-in replacement on many specs. There are multiple shielding layers to reduce interference.

Connectors

The TCA flight-friendly modular connector system makes terminating the cable quick and easy while ensuring optimal electrical and mechanical performance. Modularized design enables the user to install the connectors with the configuration that best fits the final system.

The TCA connectors have 2-Nickel or bi-metal plating for excellent corrosion resistance and optimized VSWR performance. No braid trimming is needed during assembly, so this system helps reduce foreign object debris (FOD).

Once installed, there are many different standardized front ends to choose from. TCA’s modular concept also helps improve troubleshooting and repair—the user can take off the connector fronts and change them out, instead of completely removing the entire connector. Because the system uses the same intermediate heads, you can reduce inventory costs and risks, buying the parts you need for numerous connector configurations. They also meet IP 67 standards for moisture ingress.

Unique, All-in-one Prep Tools

• Maintenance personnel and installers sometimes work with razor blades and knives while hanging upside down, trying to fit multiple connector assemblies and terminate them inside the aircraft. The TCA product line includes unique, all-in-one prep tools for simple, safe and repeatable cable termination including the ST-3520, ST-31156 and ST-3112. Users can also save time by pre-terminating the assemblies with the cable entry and using TCA’s reusable pulling eye to “fish” the assembly through the fuselage of an aircraft. This helps cut down on tooling, debris and installation damage.

TCA tools will trim the cable to a proper conductor and perfect exposure length for modular connector assembly. The tools are supplied with a snap cover to help maintain control of cable debris for cleanroom and airplane worksites. It’s another way to help reduce the likelihood of FOD.

The tools help ensure repeatable prep because all assemblers and installers use are using a standard tool and process to ensure consistency in both electrical and mechanical performance.

The TCA product line ultimately helps make the installers’ job easier, safer, quicker, and more effective with less tooling needed, less debris, and repeatable performance terminations.

Q&A

• We have a question about the modular connections. You mentioned using Loctite. How would you disconnect that in the field?
• I have concerns using a razor blade against the center conductor. Are there concerns about damaging the cable?

To learn the answers and hear the full detail provided in the webinar, register now!