The Astronics/Ballard Technology USB 708 is a portable USB interface for ARINC 708 avionics data buses commonly found in weather radar systems. It enables monitoring, testing, simulation, generation, recording, and playback of ARINC 708 data in laboratory and field environments, including flightline and Aircraft On Ground (AOG) support. Bus-powered via USB 2.0, the device requires no external power supply.
## Technical Specifications
**ARINC 708 Protocol Support**
• Supports standard ARINC 708 and ARINC 453 weather radar data buses
• Direct coupled channels per ARINC 708 specification
• Strappable on-board termination for bus connection
• Standard ARINC 708 message format: syncs at message beginning and end, 1600 bits per word (typically 64-bit header and 512 3-bit range bins)
• Custom protocols supported with variable word length (1 to 1856 bits per word) and configurable bit order (LSB or MSB first)
• Software-selectable word lengths and pre-sync pulses
**Channel Configuration**
• Models available in 1R1T (one receive, one transmit) or 2R2T (two receive, two transmit)
• Up to 4 ARINC 708 channels total across available models
• 8 Avionics Discrete I/O channels integrated
**Data & Timing**
• 32 MB on-board memory for buffering and storage
• Direct Memory Access (DMA) monitoring
• IRIG A/B Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and Amplitude Modulation (AM) time synchronization and generation
• Hardware protocol processing (reception, transmission, error checking, time-tagging, buffering)
**Physical & Environmental**
• Dimensions: 3.0 × 4.45 × 0.97 inches (76 × 113 × 25 mm)
• Weight: Under 5 oz (140 g); bare PCB 2.3 oz (65 g)
• Enclosure options: black, flight test orange, or no enclosure (embedded applications)
• Connectors: HD44F D-Sub with secure locking
• Operating temperature: −40°C to 85°C
• Storage temperature: −55°C to 100°C
• MTBF: 1,500,000 hours
• RoHS compliant
## Key Features
• USB 2.0 bus-powered operation—no external power required
• Two status LEDs for bus traffic, error indication, or user-controlled operation
• Receive, transmit, and monitoring capability on single interface
• Supports both standard and custom weather radar protocols
• On-board DMA and buffering reduce host CPU load
## Typical Applications
Laboratory testing and validation of ARINC 708 systems, field diagnostics, aircraft maintenance, weather radar system simulation and playback, protocol development and custom data format testing.
## Compatibility & Integration
Designed for integration with ARINC 708 avionics buses. Discrete I/O channels enable interfacing with auxiliary equipment. Time synchronization via IRIG-A/B simplifies coordination in multi-system test environments.
