Frequency & Microwave


Decades in the making – finding the right frequency


Roy Phillips, managing director of Intelliconnect (Europe) Ltd the UK based specialist manufacturer of RF, waterproof and cryogenic connectors and cable harness assemblies reflects on building a market-leading company over two very challenging decades


If you could travel back 18 years and tell yourself 3 things that would make the journey smoother, what would they be?


Find a different industry! No seriously, 1) Network with people better and 2) Choose a different route into the US market


What is your fondest memory of the past 18 years involving Intelliconnect?


So many! Travelling the world, particularly Japan. Chasing our US Sales lady around a parking lot in Florida with a bungee cord pretending it was a snake! Wonderful Christmas and Summer parties with the team. Meeting and working with so many inspirational colleagues, customers, suppliers and partners.


How has the industry changed in the past 18 years?


It has, to a degree, become consolidated in that many, many small RF businesses in both UK and USA have been subsumed by larger entities, often detrimentally. In terms of manufacturing, the move offshore in the connector industry has continued apace and there are very few businesses manufacturing RF connectors in USA or UK. I am proud to


say that Intelliconnect is an exception in both. Product and markets have changed tremendously. Harsh environments are much more to the fore now with many more RF systems located outside with remote RF monitoring being a massive part of that. The move to smaller and smaller components and cables has continued and we now have some mind blowingly tiny coaxial cables which 18 years ago would have been unimaginable!


If you could choose 1 song to describe your past 18 years with Intelliconnect, what would it be? That’s easy. Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. It was a theme song at my Daughters’ primary school and is so inspirational and kind of describes our philosophy as a business.


What do you feel is the main component of Intelliconnect’s success?


That’s also easy, brilliant, talented people, having a dream and daring to do!


What does the future look like for Intelliconnect?


The future, currently looks very, very bright. We have been very successful in recent years in penetrating new markets like cryogenics,


to ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, adding to their existing ISO 9001:2015 quality standard and SC21 Silver performance standard for the Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space Industry Supply Chain Programme. Intelliconnect are also members of the Living Wage Foundation.


Roy Phillips, MD of Intelliconnect (Europe)


remote RF monitoring, RF ablation, to name just a few, as well as creating many new partnerships in traditional Mil/Aero, medical and industrial markets. Our product portfolio has grown massively in recent times and we have a couple of major product launches which are imminent. We are growing steadily (25 per cent in 2020) and expect an even bigger growth in 2021. We are on well on target to achieving our vision of being, ’the most agile, imaginative and fastest growing interconnect business in the world’. Intelliconnect was recently listed in the top 25 per cent of respondents in the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) Management and Expectations Survey (MES) 2020. The largest ever survey of UK business management capabilities, executed on a population of 25,000 companies across industries, regions, firm sizes and ages, documenting the variable quality of management practices. The survey notes that, in the UK and internationally, firms with higher management practice scores on average tend to have higher productivity and profits. With a policy of continuous improvement Intelliconnect have achieved accreditation


Intelliconnect (Europe) Ltd is the largest UK based manufacturer of RF, microwave, waterproof and cryogenic connectors and cable harnesses suitable for applications including wearable technology, medical, telecoms, satcoms, military, aerospace, space, general microwave communications, rail traction, oil and gas and marine. Intelliconnect also manufacture the market leading Pisces range of waterproof RF connectors, coaxial adaptors to facilitate inter-series connection and gender change etc. dust-caps and offer value added services.


Their recently launched and fast-growing cryogenic cable assembly business CryoCoax supplies the growing market for quantum computing, medical, research, test and measurement and the emerging low temperature computing markets. Intelliconnect’s cable division are specialist manufacturers of affordable, high quality, high frequency microwave cables including triaxial assemblies, semi-rigid, semi-flexible and cryogenic cables as well as standard RG/LMR type products. Cables can be waterproofed to IP68 and include special features including phase matching and ruggedised assemblies for use in harsh environments.


intelliconnect.co.uk Pickering offers range of PXI RF & microwave switching modules P


ickering Interfaces, supplier of modular signal switching and simulation solutions for electronic test and verification, announced that it now offers all its RF & Microwave PXI products that operate at 3GHz or above in optional PXIe format.


This includes the recently released 40/42-785C (PXI / PXIe) range of microwave multiplexers that offer a maximum frequency of 67GHz in both SP4T and SP6T form factors. Pickering has a continuous R&D program, introducing many new and innovative products each year, and now offers a


42 June 2021 Components in Electronics


catalogue of over 1,000 PXI products. The most recent designs are being released simultaneously in both PXI and PXIe formats. Because the software and hardware functionality between PXI and PXIe versions is identical, the company has already been able to port several hundred of its current PXI modules to the


PXIe format, now including 211 RF & Microwave modules. Pickering’s Switching product manager, Steve Edwards says:


“PXI will continue to be an important platform for products that do not require the bandwidth that PXIe offers, and Pickering is committed to both formats with our typical 15 to 20-year product support. If test engineers need a specific Pickering PXI product in PXIe, please let us know, and we will accelerate that introduction.”


pickeringtest.com www.cieonline.co.uk


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