Computing on Demand PC News & Reviews
The YavaCo Test Station is basically two different testing facilities in one, the PTF (peripheral / component test facility) and the MBTF (motherboard test facility). Two high quality Vantec ION2 460 watt power supplies power both facilities independently and both reside in the same case (Mountain Mod’s coveted UFO enclosure modified for YavaCo).
The PTF is where most of my work will be done in the shop. This is the area that will face you when configured according to the manual. Accessing this area is simple, and is done by opening the clear front panel, held on by REAL HINGES, and installing whatever peripheral you need to test, hooking up an infected hard drive for cleaning, or OS preparation. In addition to the standard items you would place in this area, YavaCo has included the Jackson Armor card to make this unit static. This really helps eliminate the possible infection of your test system by viruses and/or errors. For more information on the Armor card, please see our review located here: Jackson Armor Card Review.
On this side of the field you also have a hard drive switch that will allow you to switch between multiple operating systems on the same unit without having to remove cables and power. The switch is capable of switching up to 4 hard drives. Switching from Windows XP to Windows Millennium to Linux is as easy as powering down and turning the key. Turn the key all you want while the system is up and running and NOTHING HAPPENS!!! Yeah, that’s right; the intelligent switch prevents you from killing your system by turning the key accidentally.
The cable provided with the switch works by powering a control board attached to the cable. Anytime you send power to something that isn’t protected and can come in contact with metal, you risk shorting something out (learned that at a young age with my finger and a fuse on a deli scale). This has been taken care of for us by using padding on the bottom of each bus switch board. Just because you see three in these pictures doesn’t mean that is what you are going to get though; with the standard versions of the test station, you only get two. You can request more, at an additional cost.
