Avionics News August 2015 - 36

SANDIA AEROSPACE

Continued from page 35

1090 ES transponders, it turned to Sandia for a solution
that would enable the two units to communicate.
Working with Garmin, Sandia modified its air data
computer to translate for the two units and provide
an ADS-B Out solution. "For anyone with these two
systems, the SAC 7-35-01 is a way to get ADS-B Out
right now," Schmidt said.
There are several other translators in the
Communicate family of products. The SAC 7-35
converts ARINC 407 to ARINC 429 data for a number
of different parameters, such as feeding ARINC 407
heading data to digital avionics units, where ARINC
429 is preferred format. It also can be used as a fuel
flow converter. The ST 26 does the same thing for the
26 volt AC, 400 hertz output from a turbine engine
tach generator and digital instrument displays and
related control data collection systems.
In the Aviate group, the SA 15 converts logic highs
to logic lows so avionics engineers can use a common
power supply to drive annunciators. Using two
Darlington arrays, it will invert up to 14 logic signals,
and each array has a ground input, according to
Schmidt, that provides for annunciator testing. The SA
3 Annunciator Driver provides the regulated voltage
that drives external annunciator lamps. With up to 12
outputs, avionics installers can adjust the maximum
and minimum brightness to match existing annunciator
lamps. LED annunciators have different current
requirements, Schmidt said, which lead to the SA 3L.
When Airbus Helicopters asked for a board designed
for lighting compatible with night vision goggles,
Sandia created the SA 3NVG, which provides a third
level of annunciator brightness.
Like Sandia's array of switching relays, the logic
converter and annunciator boards can be mounted or
combined in enclosures designed for one, five or 10
modules. A half dozen avionics cooling fans round out
the Aviate product group.
Schmidt's philosophy of evolutionary efficiency
developed over a career that started with four years
of service as a U.S. Navy avionics technician. "I
worked on RF, and I liked it for its magic as well as
the electronics," he said in a tone of voice that implied
that he's still entranced by the magic. Assigned to an
RA-5C Vigilante squadron, he maintained the photo
reconnaissance aircraft's side-looking radar imaging
system.
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august

2015

Upon his discharge, he went to work for King Radio
in Olathe, Kansas. He started as a DME tech and
ended as the repair department's service supervisor.
Then Foster Air Data recruited Schmidt to set up its
service and quality department. This introduced him
to the jets and turboprops that serve business aviation
and regional airlines. "When the vice president of
marketing became president, he asked me to take over
sales," Schmidt said, explaining how he made the
transition from the technical to the business side of the
industry. Reluctant at first, "I really enjoyed it; a small
company, I was involved in all aspects of it, and I
learned a lot. And then I started my own company and
learned even more."
Schmidt also worked for Goodrich and Terra. "I
moved a lot," he said, noting the unwavering support
of his wife. After Terra was sold, he was contemplating
several job offers. But with their children living in the
area, and the arrival of grandchildren, "we didn't want
to move," Schmidt said, so the couple decided it was
time for Schmidt to realize his childhood dream of
starting his own company. Growing up in southeastern
Minnesota, Schmidt was inspired by his uncle, who
owned a dairy, he said, adding that "I got all the
chocolate milk I wanted." He started selling stuff in the
fourth grade, and by the seventh grade he was a candy
salesman who bought his goodies from a wholesaler.
One aspect that seems to be missing from Sandia's
operation is manufacturing. This, said Schmidt, is
by design. First, the company's volume would not
keep a production line of automated machines that
manufacture electronic boards busy all year, and
any manner of idleness is not an ingredient to any
businesses' success. Even more important, "I didn't
want to buy pick-and-place machines because that
locks you into one level of technology, and you end up
designing for your manufacturing capabilities. I want
to design to the latest technology and then contract
with a company that can produce it."
Sandia controls every aspect of the manufacturing
process, and it does the final assembly and testing
of all its products, according to Schmidt. It specifies
all of the parts and provides a list of the Sandiaapproved vendors for those parts in the manufacturing
contract. "If the contractor wants to make a change,
our engineers have to approve it first," Schmidt said.
It is another example of the company's evolutionary
outlook. Instead of buying parts and kitting parts for its
products, "we can better spend our time creating new
designs." q

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