Description

The BC100i is a major evolution of Bluebell’s BC100 rack frame for the BC Series of fibre optic interface cards. Like the BC100, it features dual redundant power supplies and can hold up to 15 single-slot BC cards of any type, but provides significantly enhanced card monitoring.
The BC100i is ideal for use in OB and live sound trucks, fixed installations and fly-away systems. BC Series cards plug into the rear of the frame so that all copper or fibre cabling is retained within the rack enclosure; system monitoring is presented on the front panel. External monitoring via an IP network is also available if an optional BM102i network card is fitted into a dedicated rear slot (‘Slot 16’). Both network card types are fully compatible with SNMP protocol v2.1.
The frame’s main internal motherboard now includes a microcontroller and memory, handling all card status data. A 7" colour touchscreen on the front panel provides a continuous, colour-coded display showing the status of the signals on each card: this has been designed to resemble the LED display of the earlier BC100 frame, for immediate familiarity. Much additional information is also available on-screen, including confirmation of card type, PSU status, supply rail voltages and internal temperature. There is also a per-slot page displaying card-specific data, the nature of which depends on the card type. A page is also available providing information and status of an optional BM102i or BM103 network card, if one is fitted. A front panel USB port allows simple procedure for installing firmware updates from a flash drive.
Dual redundant power supplies (PSUs) can be specified: these are accessible and hot-swappable from the front of the frame. Each PSU is capable of powering a frame fully loaded with any BC Series card combinations. The two PSUs have independent IEC AC inlets, and employ load sharing to feed the internal electronics, so there is no interruption should one PSU fail.
The standard frame uses convection cooling and will only require the provision of vertical spacing above and below in most installations to ensure satisfactory operation. However, for locations where the ambient temperature is particularly high, the frame may be ordered with a factory-fitted internal low-speed fan card which reduces the internal temperature by approx. 10°C.

To allow a Bluebell BC card system to be fully integrated into a facility-wide monitoring environment, two optional network monitoring cards are available for the BC100i. The BM102i is a re-placement for the earlier BM102 card and makes the status of all signals, cards and PSUs available as a series of simple web pages that can be viewed anywhere on the connected network us-ing a compatible browser. The BM102i is fully compatible with third party SNMP management systems.

Schematic Diagram

Specifications

Downloads

Ordering Information